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[[Image:Photograph of a Greek Revival Parlor in the Metropolitan.jpg|thumb|right|350px|A [[Greek Revival architecture|Greek Revival]] Parlor in the [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]].]]
[[Image:Photograph of a Greek Revival Parlor in the Metropolitan.jpg|thumb|right|350px|A [[Greek Revival architecture|Greek Revival]] Parlor in the [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]].]]


'''Parlour''' (or '''parlor'''), the name used for a variety of different [[reception room]]s and public spaces in different historical periods.
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'''Parlour''' (or '''parlor'''), from the French word ''parloir'', from ''parler'' ("to speak"), denotes an "audience chamber". In parts of the [[United Kingdom]] and the [[United States]], parlours are common names for certain types of food service houses, restaurants (i.e. "[[ice cream parlour]]" and "[[pizza parlor]]") or special service areas, such as [[tattoo parlor]]s. Thus, the word appears to be used as a term denoting "a social space"; prefixes such as "pizza", "tattoo", "billiard", or "betting" describe the setting's other most notable aspect beyond socializing. Other less common examples include "beer parlor",<ref>{{cite book |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=Frb2R6vZco0C&pg=PA100&dq= |title=What the Crow Said |first=Robert |last=Kroetsch |publisher=University of Alberta |year=1998 |isbn=9780888643032 |page=100}}</ref> wine parlor,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sfiwineparlor.com/ |title=The Wine Parlor at St Francisville}}</ref> Spaghetti parlor,<ref>{{cite book |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=Ca-ZlRfqiTYC&pg=PA181&lpg=PA181&dq= |title=Cool to Be Kind: Random Acts and How to Commit Them |first1=Val |last1=Litwin |first2=Chris |last2=Bratseth |first3=Brad |last3=Stokes |first4=Erik |last4=Hanson |publisher=ECW Press |year=2004 |isbn=9781550226522}}</ref> and coffee parlor.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thecoffeeparlor.com |title=thecoffeeparlor.com: The Leading Coffee Parlor Site on the Net}}</ref> The dialect-specific usage of this term (i.e. as opposed to "ice cream shop" or "[[pizzeria]]") varies by region.


== Etymology ==
⚫
In [[dairy farming]], the room in which milking takes place is called the milking parlor.


Parlour derives from the [[Old French]] word ''parleor'' or ''parler'' ("to speak"), and entered English around the turn of the 13th century <ref>Random House Unabridged Dictionary Second Edition, Stuart Berg Flexner, Editor, Random House, New York, 1993</ref> In its original usage it denoted a place set aside for speaking with someone, an "audience chamber".
The "inner parlours" in 1 Chronicles 28:11 in the Bible{{clarify|date=October 2011|reason=What version? And what do other versions call them? It's unlikely they all use "parlours".}} were the small rooms or chambers which [[Solomon]] built all round two sides and one end of the [[Temple in Jerusalem]] (1 Kings 6:5),{{clarify|date=October 2011|reason=What is this citation citing? The preceding is already sourced to Chron. 28:11!}} "side chambers",{{clarify|date=October 2011|reason=What is this little "scare-quoted" phrase? Where does it come from? Why is it in quotation marks? If it is a quotation, what is the source?}} or they may have been, as some think,{{weasel-inline|date=October 2011}} the porch and the holy place. In 1 Samuel 9:22, the Revised Version reads "guest chamber", a chamber at the high place specially used for [[sacrifice|sacrificial]] feasts.


== Usage History ==
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In [[Middle Ages|medieval]] [[Christianity|Christian]] usage, the parlour was one of two rooms in a [[monastery]]. The "outer parlour" was the room where the monks or nuns could receive a visitor and conduct business with outsiders. It was generally located in the west range of the buildings of the [[cloister]], close to the main entrance. The "inner parlour" was located off the cloister next to the [[chapter house]] in the east range of the monastery. Most orders required a general silence in the cloister, which was the place where the monks engaged in study, and the inner parlour was a convenient place for the monks to engage in conversation freely.

⚫
The first known use of the word to denote a room was in [[Middle Ages|medieval]] [[Christianity|Christian]] Europe, when it designated the two rooms in a [[monastery]] where clergy who were often constrained by vow or regulation from speaking otherwise in the [[cloister]], ere allowed to converse without disturbing their fellows. The "outer parlour" was the room where the monks or nuns conducted business with those outside the monastery. It was generally located in the west range of the buildings of the [[cloister]], close to the main entrance. The "inner parlour" was located off the cloister next to the [[chapter house]] in the east range of the monastery and was used for necessary conversation between resident members.

It was the function of the "outer parlor" as the public antechamber of the monastary that elided into domestic architecture. As homes became larger and concepts of privacy evolved in the early modern period, a room was increasingly set aside for the reception of guests and other visitors, screening them from the rest of the home. A frequent name for this reception room was the "parlour."

⚫
In the late nineteenth century, it was often a formal room used only on Sundays or special occasions, and closed during the week. The parlour contained a family's best [[furnishings]], [[works of art]] and other display items. The body of a recently deceased member of the household would be bereaved in the parlour while [[funeral]] preparations were made. As a result of a twentieth-century effort by architects and decorators to strip the parlour of its burial and [[mourning]] associations, helped by the advent of funeral parlors, in most homes the parlour has been replaced by the [[living room]].


⚫
In parts of the [[United Kingdom]] and the [[United States]], parlours are common names for certain types of food service houses, restaurants (i.e. "[[ice cream parlour]]" and "[[pizza parlor]]") or special service areas, such as [[tattoo parlor]]s. Thus, the word appears to be used as a term denoting "a social space"; prefixes such as "pizza", "tattoo", "billiard", or "betting" describe the setting's other most notable aspect beyond socializing. Other less common examples include "beer parlor",<ref>{{cite book |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=Frb2R6vZco0C&pg=PA100&dq= |title=What the Crow Said |first=Robert |last=Kroetsch |publisher=University of Alberta |year=1998 |isbn=9780888643032 |page=100}}</ref> wine parlor,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sfiwineparlor.com/ |title=The Wine Parlor at St Francisville}}</ref> Spaghetti parlor,<ref>{{cite book |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=Ca-ZlRfqiTYC&pg=PA181&lpg=PA181&dq= |title=Cool to Be Kind: Random Acts and How to Commit Them |first1=Val |last1=Litwin |first2=Chris |last2=Bratseth |first3=Brad |last3=Stokes |first4=Erik |last4=Hanson |publisher=ECW Press |year=2004 |isbn=9781550226522}}</ref> and coffee parlor.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thecoffeeparlor.com |title=thecoffeeparlor.com: The Leading Coffee Parlor Site on the Net}}</ref> The dialect-specific usage of this term (i.e. as opposed to "ice cream shop" or "[[pizzeria]]") varies by region.

⚫
In [[dairy farming]], the room in which milking takes place is called the milking parlor.


⚫
In modern use, the '''parlour''' is a formal [[sitting room]] in a large house or [[mansion]]. In the late nineteenth century, it was often a formal room used only on Sundays or special occasions, and closed during the week. The parlour contained a family's best [[furnishings]], [[works of art]] and other display items. The body of a recently deceased member of the household would be bereaved in the parlour while [[funeral]] preparations were made. As a result of a twentieth-century effort by architects and decorators to strip the parlour of its burial and [[mourning]] associations, helped by the advent of funeral parlors, in most homes the parlour has been replaced by the [[living room]].


== See also ==
== See also ==

Revision as of 01:05, 8 December 2011

A Greek Revival Parlor in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Parlour (or parlor), the name used for a variety of different reception rooms and public spaces in different historical periods.

Etymology

Parlour derives from the Old French word parleor or parler ("to speak"), and entered English around the turn of the 13th century [1] In its original usage it denoted a place set aside for speaking with someone, an "audience chamber".

Usage History

The first known use of the word to denote a room was in medieval Christian Europe, when it designated the two rooms in a monastery where clergy who were often constrained by vow or regulation from speaking otherwise in the cloister, ere allowed to converse without disturbing their fellows. The "outer parlour" was the room where the monks or nuns conducted business with those outside the monastery. It was generally located in the west range of the buildings of the cloister, close to the main entrance. The "inner parlour" was located off the cloister next to the chapter house in the east range of the monastery and was used for necessary conversation between resident members.

It was the function of the "outer parlor" as the public antechamber of the monastary that elided into domestic architecture. As homes became larger and concepts of privacy evolved in the early modern period, a room was increasingly set aside for the reception of guests and other visitors, screening them from the rest of the home. A frequent name for this reception room was the "parlour."

In the late nineteenth century, it was often a formal room used only on Sundays or special occasions, and closed during the week. The parlour contained a family's best furnishings, works of art and other display items. The body of a recently deceased member of the household would be bereaved in the parlour while funeral preparations were made. As a result of a twentieth-century effort by architects and decorators to strip the parlour of its burial and mourning associations, helped by the advent of funeral parlors, in most homes the parlour has been replaced by the living room.


In parts of the United Kingdom and the United States, parlours are common names for certain types of food service houses, restaurants (i.e. "ice cream parlour" and "pizza parlor") or special service areas, such as tattoo parlors. Thus, the word appears to be used as a term denoting "a social space"; prefixes such as "pizza", "tattoo", "billiard", or "betting" describe the setting's other most notable aspect beyond socializing. Other less common examples include "beer parlor",[2] wine parlor,[3] Spaghetti parlor,[4] and coffee parlor.[5] The dialect-specific usage of this term (i.e. as opposed to "ice cream shop" or "pizzeria") varies by region.

In dairy farming, the room in which milking takes place is called the milking parlor.


See also

References

  1. ^ Random House Unabridged Dictionary Second Edition, Stuart Berg Flexner, Editor, Random House, New York, 1993
  2. ^ Kroetsch, Robert (1998). What the Crow Said. University of Alberta. p. 100. ISBN 9780888643032.
  3. ^ "The Wine Parlor at St Francisville".
  4. ^ Litwin, Val; Bratseth, Chris; Stokes, Brad; Hanson, Erik (2004). Cool to Be Kind: Random Acts and How to Commit Them. ECW Press. ISBN 9781550226522.
  5. ^ "thecoffeeparlor.com: The Leading Coffee Parlor Site on the Net".

Public Domain This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Easton, Matthew George (1897). Easton's Bible Dictionary (New and revised ed.). T. Nelson and Sons. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)

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