Balcony

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈbælkÉ™ni/

Origin

From Italian balcone "balcony, floor-length window" from Old Italian balcone "scaffold", from Lombardic *balko, *balkon- ("beam") from Proto-Germanic *balkô ("beam"), from Proto-Indo-European *bhelg'- ("beam, pile, prop"). Akin to Old High German balco, balcho ("beam"), Old English balca ("beam, ridge"). More at balk.

Full definition of balcony

Noun

1. An accessible structure extending from a building, especially outside a window.
2. An accessible structure overlooking a stage or the like.
• 1963, Margery Allingham, The China Governess Chapter 3, Sepia Delft tiles surrounded the fireplace, their crudely drawn Biblical scenes in faded cyclamen blending with the pinkish pine, while above them, instead of a mantelshelf, there was an archway high enough to form a balcony with slender balusters and a tapestry-hung wall behind.