Crossword clues for narthex
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Narthex \Nar"thex\, n. [L., giant fennel, Gr. na`rqhx.]
(Bot.) A tall umbelliferous plant ( Ferula communis). See Giant fennel, under Fennel.
(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.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
"porch at the west end of early churches" (used by penitents not admitted to the body of the church), 1670s, from Late Greek narthex, in classical Greek "giant fennel," of unknown origin. The architectural feature allegedly so called from fancied resemblance of porch to a hollow stem. The word also was used in Greek to mean "a small case for unguents, etc." According to Hesiod ("Theogeny"), Prometheus conveyed fire from Heaven to Earth in hollow fennel stalks. Related: Narthecal.
Wiktionary
n. (context architecture English) A western vestibule leading to the nave in some (especially Orthodox) Christian churches.
WordNet
n. portico at the west end of an early Christian basilica or church
a vestibule leading to the nave of a church
Wikipedia
The narthex is an architectural element typical of early Christian and Byzantine basilicas and churches consisting of the entrance or lobby area, located at the west end of the nave, opposite the church's main altar. Traditionally the narthex was a part of the church building, but was not considered part of the church proper.
In early Christian churches the narthex was often divided into two distinct parts: an esonarthex (inner narthex), between the west wall and the body of the church proper, separated from the nave and aisles by a wall, arcade, colonnade, screen or rail, and an external closed space, the exonarthex (outer narthex), a court in front of the church facade delimited on all sides by a colonnade as in the first St. Peter's Basilica in Rome or in the Basilica of Sant'Ambrogio in Milan. The exonarthex may have been either open or enclosed, with a door leading to the outside as in the Byzantiine Chora Church.
By extension, the narthex can also denote a covered porch or entrance to a building.
Usage examples of "narthex".
Zielinsky, gave the bride the lightest-possible embrace, kissing the narthex air.
Krispos followed him into the narthex, his eyes needed a moment to adjust to the dimmer light.
Even the marble lintel of the doorway into the narthex was covered with reliefs.
Krispos followed Gnatios out of the narthex and into the main chamber of the High Temple.
With the patriarch at their side, Krispos and Dara walked down the aisle by which they had approached the altar, through the narthex, and out onto the top of the stairway.
Both guards held axes at the ready, though the service was still an hour away and the narthex deserted but for themselves, the Avtokrator and Empress, and a few priests.
Much of the temple was ruined, but the severe broad front was whole as well as a large hall behind it, a hall from which a thin remote chant could be heard: across this front stretched what for want of the proper term Stephen thought of as a portico, a narthex, and in this narthex a monk in a worn old saffron robe was sitting by a brazier.
A final chorus of gibbons went hoo hoo hoo at great length in the forest below, and two of them hurried across the grass in front of the narthex, one with its hands clasped behind its neck, the other with its arms held high.
These are the particular carvings of a sculptured frieze where the narthex roof joins the main body.
He dragged Tony into the narthex and then went back to his car for the gasoline.
Then he locked the narthex door, the only door into the church, excepting the door to the vestarium.
He heard a stir from the narthex and he thought his heart would explode until he realized that it was nothing.
He stood in a small narthex, facing another set of double doors, closed.
Nowhere did he see a cross or crucifix, but at the far end of the narthex, beneath a stairway that probably led to the sanctuary balcony, a smaller replica of the same star that adorned the steeple shone with a dim light the color of a hazy Autumn moon.
The man bowed his head curtly, then disappeared through the narthex door.