parterre

Meaning

Noun

• A flowerbed, particularly an elevated one.
• A garden with paths between such flowerbeds.
• A part of the section of theater seats located on the ground floor, on the same level as the orchestra.
• That part of a theater audience seated in the parterre, sometimes regarded as belonging to a lower social class.
• An apartment balcony.

Origin

• Borrowed from French parterre ("on the ground"), from par + terre.