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mezzanine

UK/ˈmɛzəniːn/US/ˈmɛzəˌnin/
nounC1Occasional — familiar, but not everyday · #10,914 of 15,258leans written

Other forms: mezzanines

A mezzanine is a low floor built between two main storeys. The mezzanine level, offices on the mezzanine, a mezzanine gallery.

It usually covers only part of the space below, which is what makes it a mezzanine rather than a floor. In a theatre the mezzanine is the lowest balcony in American usage. In finance, mezzanine debt sits between senior debt and equity.

Kleon3 · CC BY-SA 4.0

Definitions of mezzanine

  1. 1nounmezzanineA low floor built between two main storeys.C1

    “The shop has a small café on the mezzanine above the main floor.”

mezzanine is a floor.

Where it comes from

Italian mezzanino comes from mezzano, middle, from Latin medianus, in the middle.

  1. Proto-Indo-European

    *médʰyos — middle

  2. Latin

    mediānus — central, middle

  3. Italian

    mezzanino

  4. French

    mezzanine

  5. English, today

    mezzanine

Built from

  • mezzano · Italian — (adjective) middle; (noun) go-between
  • medius · Latin — mid, middle

The noun is borrowed from French mezzanine, and from its etymon Italian mezzanino, from mezzano (“(adjective) middle; (noun) go-between”) + -ino. Mezzano is derived from Latin mediānus (“central, middle”), from medius (“mid, middle”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European médʰyos (“middle”)) + -ānus. The adjective and verb are derived from the noun.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in Buildings & Architecture

Practise this word

mezzanine in the wild

  • Technically, mezzanine capital can be either a debt or equity instrument with a repayment priority between senior debt and common stock equity.

    Mezzanine capital

  • In compensation for the increased risk, mezzanine debt holders require a higher return for their investment than secured or more senior lenders.

    Mezzanine capital

  • The Van Buren-Congress mezzanine closed on January 6, 1984, following the closure of the South Loop's main anchor, Sears, which had a direct entrance from the mezzanine.

    Jackson station (CTA Red Line)

  • From these connecting passages there are triple escalators to/from mezzanine levels, which in turn each have flanking exits to ground level with escalators and stairs.

    Lehel station

  • At the east end, there are two separate elevators linking the platform with the mezzanine, and the mezzanine with the ground levels.

    Lehel station

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

Related words

the medius family

mediamedalimmediatemedium

mezzanine — used about once every 7,462 pages · #10,914 · point at the bar for the others