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Added 9 October 2026

pavilion

/pəˈvɪljən/ noun

Latin root: pāpiliōnem Wiktionary

noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about pavilion at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

An ornate tent.
A light roofed structure used as a shelter in a public place.
A structure, sometimes temporary, erected to house exhibits at a fair, etc.

verb

To furnish with a pavilion.
To put inside a pavilion.
To enclose or surround (after Robert Grant's hymn line "pavilioned in splendour, And girded with praise").

Origin

From Middle English pavilloun, from Anglo-Norman pavilloun, from Latin pāpiliōnem, form of pāpiliō (“butterfly, moth”) (due to resemblance of tent to a butterfly’s wings), of unknown origin. Doublet of papilio and papillon. Cognate to French pavillon (“pavilion”) and papillon (“butterfly”), and similar terms in other Romance languages.

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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