cryptoporticus

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noun

A vaulted arcade or corridor at, or just below, ground level, normally lit by openings in the upper part of the vault; also, a roofed promenade that is enclosed with side walls that have openings or windows instead of columns.

OriginLatin cryptoporticus →
Scrabble 25
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Meanings

nouncryptoporticus (plural cryptoporticuses or cryptoportici)

plural cryptoporticuses · plural cryptoportici · alternative cryptoportico

  1. Ancient RomearchitectureA vaulted arcade or corridor at, or just below, ground level, normally lit by openings in the upper part of the vault; also, a roofed promenade that is enclosed with side walls that have openings or windows instead of columns.

    The cloſe vvalkes, vvhich vvere called cryptoporticus vvere not of choice but of neceſſitie, vvhen extremitie of vveather vvould not let them vvalke abroad.

    1581, Richard Mulcaster, “Of Walking”, in Positions wherin Those Primitive Circvmstances be Examined, which are Necessarie for the Training Vp of Children, either for Skill in Their Booke, or Health in Their Bodie. […], London: […] Thomas Vautrollier for Thomas Chare [i.e., Chard], →OCLC, page 86

Origin

  1. Latincryptoporticus
  2. Latincryptoporticus
  3. Englishcryptoporticus

Borrowed from Latin cryptoporticus.

More words from Latin

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Catalan criptopòrtic
  • criptopòrticvaulted arcade or corridor at, or just below, ground level
French cryptoportique
  • cryptoportiquevaulted arcade or corridor at, or just below, ground level
German Kryptoportikus
  • Kryptoportikusvaulted arcade or corridor at, or just below, ground level
Italian criptoportico
  • criptoporticovaulted arcade or corridor at, or just below, ground level
Latin cryptoporticus
  • cryptoporticusvaulted arcade or corridor at, or just below, ground level
Portuguese criptopórtico
  • criptopórticovaulted arcade or corridor at, or just below, ground level
Spanish criptopórtico
  • criptopórticovaulted arcade or corridor at, or just below, ground level
Cite this entry
APA

cryptoporticus. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cryptoporticus

MLA

“cryptoporticus.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cryptoporticus. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “cryptoporticus,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cryptoporticus.

Source: cryptoporticus on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.