arbor

Definition

A shady sitting place or pergola usually in a park or garden, surrounded by climbing shrubs, vines or other vegetation.

Etymology

From Middle English arbour, erbour, from Old French erbier (“field, meadow, kitchen garden”), from erbe (“grass, herb”), from Latin herba (“grass, herb”) (English herb). (Compare Late Latin herbārium, although erbier is possibly an independent formation.) The spelling was influenced by Latin arbor (“tree”).

Example Sentences

• "Our tacit treaty with Miss Maudie was that we could play on her lawn, eat her scuppernongs if we didn’t jump on the arbor, and explore her vast back lot,"
• "Children swung from the branches of the banyan tree, teenagers climbed into the arbours of orchids and gourds into which the abandoned cars had been transformed."

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