Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Narthex
‖
Nar′thex
,Noun.
[L., giant fennel, Gr.
νάρθηξ
.] 2.
(Arch.)
The portico in front of ancient churches; sometimes, the atrium or outer court surrounded by ambulatories; – used, generally, for any vestibule, lobby, or outer porch, leading to the nave of a church.
Definition 2024
narthex
narthex
English
Noun
narthex (plural narthexes or narthices)
- (architecture) A western vestibule leading to the nave in some (especially Orthodox) Christian churches.
- 1942, Rebecca West, Black Lamb and Grey Falcon, Canongate, published 2006, page 637:
- we were in the antechamber, called the narthex, which runs across the front of any Byzantine church [...].
- 2007, Edwin Mullins, The Popes of Avignon, Blue Bridge 2008, p. 87:
- One of these was Cardinal Jacopo Stefaneschi, [...] who had now conceived ambitious plans for paintings to decorate the entire narthex, or entrance porch, of Avignon's ancient cathedral.
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Derived terms
- endonarthex
- exonarthex