Meanings
plural propylaea · plural propylaeums · alternative propylaeon
- historicalespecially Ancient Greece and Ancient RomeA vestibule or entrance, (especially) to a temple.
On either side of the road young girls stood with pitchers at the fountains which bubbled there, and behind the houses forming the propylaea of the rock rose the massive forehead of the Isle — crested at this part with its enormous ramparts as with a mural crown.
1892, Thomas Hardy, The Well-Beloved
Origin
- Ancient Greekπροπύλαιον
- Latinpropylaeum
- Englishpropylaeum
From Latin propylaeum, from Ancient Greek προπύλαιον (propúlaion), from προ- (pro-, “before”, “in front of”) + πύλη (púlē, “gate”).
More words from Latin, Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Catalan propileu
- propileuvestibule or entrance
French propylée
- propyléevestibule or entrance
Italian propileo
- propileovestibule or entrance
Romanian propilee
- propileevestibule or entrance
Swedish propylé
- propylévestibule or entrance
Cite this entry
propylaeum. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/propylaeum
“propylaeum.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/propylaeum. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “propylaeum,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/propylaeum.
Source: propylaeum on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.