Parterre

parterre

Division of garden beds in an ornamental pattern. The parterre grew out of the knot garden, a medieval form of bed in which various plant types were separated from each other by hedges. In the 16th century, the hedges were replaced by wooden or leaden shapes or by lines of shells or coal, and the areas between were filled with colored sand or stone chips. The naturalistic English garden of the 18th century displaced the elaborate parterre.

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parterre

1. a formally patterned flower garden

2. Brit Irish the pit in a theatre

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parquet circle, orchestra circle, parterre

In a theater or opera house, the part of the main floor at the rear of the parquet, 3, usually under the galleries or balconies.

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parterre

1. See parquet circle.

2. An ornamental arrangement of flower or gravel beds of various sizes and shapes.

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Parterre 

in landscaping, an ornamental garden with lawns, flower beds, bodies of water, and hedges. A parterre is often decorated with sculptures, fountains, lawns framed by shrubs, and trees. In a formal park, the parterres are divided into plots of regular shape and are trimmed with box shrubs, colored sand, crushed brick, or coal. Parterres are less regular in landscape parks, usually having the appearance of lawns. Twentieth-century parterres have usually consisted of flower beds divided by paved paths.

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Parterre 

the part of the floor of a theater or concert hall, usually rising from the stage to the back rows, with seats for the spectators. The parterre of ancient Roman theaters was a central semicircular platform with rows of seats. Parterres surrounded by tiers of loges appeared in Italy at the beginning of the 17th century. (Such parterres initially were for the lower classes and had no seats.)