palazzo

/pəˈlæt͡səʊ/

Etymology

Borrowed from Italian palazzo, from Latin palātium (“palace, large residence”), from Palātium (“Palatine”), one of the seven hills of Rome, where aristocrats built large homes. Doublet of palace and Pfalz.

palazzo means A large, palatial urban building in Italy. Lexicurio rates it Rare gem — a strength score of 81 out of 100.

Why this word is great

PALAZZO — [Noun] A large, imposing urban building, especially a grand residence or public building in Italy. From the Italian *palazzo* ("palace, large building"), from the Latin *palātium* ("palace, large residence"), originally referring to the Palatine Hill in Rome where aristocratic homes were built. Unlike a "palace," which suggests a sovereign's isolated monument, or a "villa," which implies a pastoral retreat, a *palazzo* is power embedded in the civic fabric. It is the shadowed weight of rusticated stone on a narrow *vicolo*, the glimpse through a colossal *portone* of a sun-drenched *cortile*, and the silent, frescoed *salone* floating above the market's din—an architecture of contained grandeur, asserting that true magnificence holds its ground amidst the clamor of the everyday.

noun

A large, palatial urban building in Italy.“Cecil Spenser's society—who soon shewed he could understand and enter into his views—became a source of great gratification, and his young countryman was almost domesticated at the palazzo.”