What is a gallery? Meaning and origin

Table of contents:

What is a gallery? Meaning and origin
What is a gallery? Meaning and origin
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If you are a theater lover or a student, then you probably know what a "gallery" is. And if you do not belong to any of these groups, then you may not be familiar with this word. But this article can easily explain to you what a "gallery" is. However, even if you know what this means, this article will still open something new for you.

Meaning of the word

Gallery (an obsolete form of "raeks") is a tier located above the others, in the theater auditorium, here are very cheap seats, their cost is the lowest among the rest. Because of their price, these places are very popular among the poor, mostly students. Most often, the gallery is the outskirts of the auditorium, located on the sides and at a very disadvantageous distance directly from the stage.

The meaning of the word "gallery"
The meaning of the word "gallery"

Now this word has a couple more meanings, one of them is collective: people who occupy the top places. Second phraseological: gallery alsocall distant places in the student auditorium.

Origin of the word

The word "gallerka" comes from the word "gallery", which appeared in Russian around the beginning of the eighteenth century. It came from German or French, where it looked the same (galerie). That is why it is difficult to determine from which language it came to Russian. However, in both French and German, it migrated from the Italian language (galleria). In the original, the word meant "church porch".

The word "gallery" was first mentioned in Weismann's dictionary in 1731. It is noteworthy that at that time it was written with two "l" and it had the meaning "the upper tier of the building." In the dictionaries of Dahl and Ushakov, the word "gallery" was also written with a double "l". Currently, the word "gallery" is used in three meanings, one of which completely coincides with the meaning of the word "gallery". It arose with the advent of theaters in which there was a tiered type of hall, namely in the seventeenth century.

theater gallery
theater gallery

An interesting fact: the very word "gallerka", which is a derogatory form of the word "gallery", began to gain popularity only in the eighties of the nineteenth century. This began to happen due to the fact that the word began to be used quite often by the authors of fiction.

Conclusion

Now you know exactly what the word "gallery" means. So now, when in the classroom the teacher shouts: "Hey there, in the gallery, put away the cards!" You will absolutely know exactly who she is for.addressed. And, if you are not sitting in the back rows, you can safely continue your game.

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