parterre

Meanings

1. A flowerbed, particularly an elevated one.
2. A garden with paths between such flowerbeds.
3. A part of the section of theater seats located on the ground floor, on the same level as the orchestra.
4. The part of the ground-floor section nearest the orchestra and the stage; the stalls.
5. The part of the ground-floor section behind the stalls and underneath the galleries; the pit.
6. That part of a theater audience seated in the parterre, sometimes regarded as belonging to a lower social class.
7. An apartment balcony.

Etymology

Borrowed from French parterre (“on the ground”), from par (“on”) + terre (“ground”).