balcony

English

Neoclassical balcony in Paris

Art Nouveau balcony in Paris

Etymology

From Italian balcone (“balcony, floor-length window”), from Old Italian balcone (“scaffold”) from Lombardic *balk, *balko (“beam”), from Proto-Germanic *balkô (“beam”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰelǵ- (“beam, pile, prop”). Akin to Old High German balco, balcho (“beam”), Old English balca (“beam, ridge”). More at balk.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈbælkəni/, (obsolete) /bælˈkəʊni/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈbælkəni/

• Audio (Southern England)

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• Audio (US)

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Noun

balcony (plural balconies)

1. (architecture) An accessible structure extending from a building, especially outside a window.
   • 1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XII, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume II, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 132:

     I sprang a step forward; when two shadows were distinctly traced on the moonlit myrtle! Then two figures stood upon the balcony. A young cavalier jumped from the balustrade, and hurried down the path that led to the garden, where I well remember a gate opened on an unfrequented lane.

   • 2002, The Message translation of The Bible, Book of Acts 10:9–13

     The next day as the three travelers were approaching the town, Peter went out on the balcony to pray.

2. An accessible structure overlooking a stage or the like.
   • 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 3, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:

     Sepia Delft tiles surrounded the fireplace, their crudely drawn Biblical scenes in faded cyclamen blending with the pinkish pine, while above them, instead of a mantelshelf, there was an archway high enough to form a balcony with slender balusters and a tapestry-hung wall behind.

Derived terms

• balconette
• balconette bra
• balconic
• balcony bra
• balconylike
• Juliet balcony

Translations

structure extending from a building

• Albanian: ballkon (sq) m
• Arabic: شُرْفَة (ar) f (šurfa)

  Egyptian Arabic: بلكونة f (balkōna)

  Gulf Arabic: بلكونة f (balakōna)

  Hijazi Arabic: بلكونة f (balakōna)

• Armenian: պատշգամբ (hy) (patšgamb)
• Asturian: balcón m
• Azerbaijani: balkon (az)
• Basque: balkoi
• Belarusian: гаўбе́ц m (haŭbjéc), балко́н m (balkón)
• Bengali: অলিন্দ (bn) (olindo), ব্যালকনি (bêlkoni)
• Bulgarian: балко́н m (balkón)
• Burmese: လေသာခန်း (my) (lesahkan:), လသာဆောင် (my) (la.sahcaung)
• Catalan: balcó (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 騎樓／骑楼 (ke⁴ lau^4-2)

  Mandarin: 陽臺／阳台 (zh) (yángtái), 陽台 (yángtái)

• Czech: balkón (cs) m
• Danish: altan (da) c, balkon (da) c
• Dutch: balkon (nl) n
• Esperanto: balkono
• Estonian: rõdu, palkon
• Faroese: altan f, svali m, altanur m
• Finnish: parveke (fi)
• French: balcon (fr) m
• Galician: balcón (gl) m
• Georgian: აივანი (ka) (aivani), ბალკონი (balḳoni)
• German: Balkon (de) m
• Greek: μπαλκόνι (el) n (balkóni)
• Greenlandic: balkonngi
• Hebrew: מִרְפֶּסֶת (he) f (mirpéset), גְּזוּזְטְרָה (he) f (g'zuzt'rá)
• Hindi: बालकनी f (bālkanī)
• Hungarian: erkély (hu), balkon (hu)
• Icelandic: svalir f pl, altan
• Ido: balkono (io)
• Indonesian: balkon (id)
• Irish: balcóin f
• Italian: balcone (it) m
• Japanese: バルコニー (ja) (barukonī) (usually roofless), ベランダ (ja) (beranda) (roofed)
• Kabuverdianu: varanda
• Kannada: ಬಾಲ್ಕನಿಯಲ್ಲಿ (bālkaniyalli)
• Kazakh: балкон (balkon)
• Khmer: បាល់កុង (balkong), យ៉ (km) (yɑɑ)
• Korean: 발코니 (balkoni)
• Kyrgyz: балкон (ky) (balkon)
• Ladino: balkon, tarasa
• Lao: ລະບຽງ (lo) (la bīang)
• Latin: maenianum n, podium n
• Latvian: balkons m
• Lithuanian: balkonas (lt) m
• Macedonian: балко́н m (balkón), тера́са f (terása)
• Malay: balkoni
• Maori: mahaurangi
• Mingrelian: აბარწა (abarc̣a)
• Mongolian: тагт (mn) (tagt)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: balkong (no) m

  Nynorsk: balkong m

• Occitan: balcon (oc) m
• Pashto: ارېکی m (arekáy)
• Persian: بالکن (fa) (bâlkon)
• Polish: balkon (pl) m
• Portuguese: sacada (pt) f, balcão (pt) m, varanda (pt) f
• Romanian: balcon (ro) n
• Romansch: balcun m, lautga f
• Russian: балко́н (ru) m (balkón)
• Sardinian: passitzu m
• Scottish Gaelic: for-uinneag f
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: ба̀лко̄н m

  Roman: bàlkōn (sh) m

• Sicilian: barcuni (scn) m, balcuni (scn) m
• Slovak: balkón m
• Slovene: balkon m
• Spanish: balcón (es) m
• Swahili: roshani (sw)
• Swedish: balkong (sv) c
• Tagalog: balkonahe, tambusan
• Tajik: балкон (tg) (balkon)
• Tamil: பால்கனியில் (pālkaṉiyil)
• Telugu: బాల్కనీ (bālkanī)
• Thai: ระเบียง (th) (rá-biiang)
• Turkish: balkon (tr)
• Turkmen: balkon (tk)
• Ukrainian: балко́н (uk) m (balkón)
• Urdu: بالکنی f (bālkanī)
• Uyghur: بالكون (balkon)
• Uzbek: balkon (uz)
• Vietnamese: ban công (vi)
• Volapük: bakun (vo)
• Yiddish: באַלקן m (balkn), באַלקאָן m (balkon)

structure overlooking a stage

• Czech: balkón (cs) m
• Danish: balkon (da) c
• Finnish: parveke (fi), lehteri (fi)
• French: balcon (fr) m
• Georgian: აივანი (ka) (aivani)
• Greek: θεωρείο (el) n (theoreío)

  Ancient: ἐξώστης m (exṓstēs)

• Irish: áiléar m
• Japanese: バルコニー (ja) (barukonī)
• Latin: podium m
• Macedonian: балко́н m (balkón)
• Polish: balkon (pl) m
• Portuguese: camarote (pt)
• Russian: балко́н (ru) m (balkón)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: ба̀лко̄н m

  Roman: bàlkōn (sh) m

• Spanish: palco (es) m
• Swedish: balkong (sv) c, läktare (sv) c
• Tagalog: palko
• Turkish: balkon (tr)