parterre.

1. A level ornamental garden area laid out in patterned beds, often divided or edged by paths or clipped planting.

2. The main-floor seating or audience area of a theatre in certain architectural or historical terminology.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• a formal parterre
• parterre beds

On the page

From the upper window, the formal parterre looked untouched by the storm.

A missing hedge broke the pattern of the parterre beds.

Usage notes

Primary category: setting. Forms: Singular parterre; plural parterres. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings.