gallery |ˈgalərē|noun
( pl. -ler-ies)
1 a room or building for the display or sale of works of art.
• a collection of pictures.
2 a balcony, esp. a platform or upper floor, projecting from the back orsidewall inside a church or hall, providing space for an audience ormusicians.
• ( the gallery) the highest of such balconies in a theater, containing the cheapest seats.
• a group of spectators, esp. those at a golf tournament.
3 a long room or passage, typically one that is partly open at the side to form a portico or colonnade.
• a horizontal underground passage, esp. in a mine.
PHRASES play to the gallery act in an exaggerated or theatrical manner, esp. to appeal to popular taste.
DERIVATIVES galleried |ˈgøl(ə)rid| adjective
ORIGIN late Middle English (sense 3) : via Old French from Italiangalleria ‘gallery,’ formerly also ‘church porch,’ from medieval Latingaleria, perhaps an alteration of galilea (see galilee ).
