The Collaborative International Dictionary
Propylaeum \Prop`y*l[ae]"um\, n.; pl. Propyl[ae]a. [L., fr. Gr. ?; ? before + ? a gate.] (Anc. Classical Arch.) Any court or vestibule before a building or leading into any inclosure.
Wiktionary
n. (plural of propylaeum English)
WordNet
See propylaeum
Wikipedia
A propylaea, propylea or propylaia (; Greek: Προπύλαια) is any monumental gateway in Greek architecture. Much the best known Greek example is the propylaea that serves as the entrance to the Acropolis in Athens. The Greek Revival Brandenburg Gate of Berlin and the Propylaea in Munich both evoke the central portion of the Athens propylaea.
The Greek word προπύλαιον propylaeon (propylaeum is the Latin version) is the union of the prefix προ- pro-, "before, in front of" plus the plural of πύλη pyle "gate," meaning literally "that which is before the gates," but the word has come to mean simply "gate building."
Propylaea is a sculpture/fountain on the Maumee River, in downtown Toledo, Ohio.
The Propylaea (German:Propyläen) is a city gate in Munich at the west side of Königsplatz.
Usage examples of "propylaea".
They stood in a Propylaea that was scarcely more than tumbled stones and snags of sculpture.
I exchange dispatches with its governor, Fidus Aquila, about the propylaea of its temple and the statues of its triumphal arch.
Tourists ambled through the Propylaea, snapping holographic images of one of the few ancient structures to survive the chaotic Mad Times that had dominated The Twen.
They climbed between the never-completed columns of the Propylaea, with Johnny lifting Beth over rough stone.
They ascended by way of the Propylaea, an enormous sloping ramp, and went to make an offering at the Temple of Athene.