Edit page | Page history | Printable version

Gallery

pl galleries . [F. Galerie, It. Galleria, fr. LL. Galeria gallery, perh. Orig, a festal hall, banquetting hall; cf. OF. Galerie a rejoicing, fr. Galer to rejoice. Cf. Gallant.

1. A long and narrow corridor, or place for walking; a connecting passageway, as between one room and another; also, a long hole or passage excavated by a boring or burrowing animal.

2. A room for the exhibition of works of art; as, a picture gallery; hence, also, a large or important collection of paintings, sculptures, etc.

3. A long and narrow platform attached to one or more sides of public hall or the interior of a church, and supported by brackets or columns; sometimes intended to be occupied by musicians or spectators, sometimes designed merely to increase the capacity of the hall.

4. A frame, like a balcony, projecting from the stern or quarter of a ship, and hence called stern galery or quarter gallry, seldom found in vessels built since 1850.

5. Any communication which is covered overhead as well as at the sides. When prepared for defense, it is a defensive galery.

6. (Science: chemical) a working drift or level. Whispering gallery. See Whispering.