Parterres

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A style of garden layout featuring symmetrical patterns and meticulously arranged foliage that enhances visual appeal
2. An artistic arrangement of plants and flowers in designated areas, often used to create a formal and structured appearance in outdoor spaces
3. Garden areas designed with decorative, geometrically shaped planting beds to create an elegant patterned effect

Etymology: "Parterres" is the plural of "parterre", a word English borrowed from French, where it meant something close to "on the ground." The French phrase combines "par," meaning "on," with "terre," meaning "ground," and the original sense was literal: a flat, level area lying on the ground rather than raised above it. That physical sense carried into gardens. Formal garden designers used the term for ground laid out in ornamental beds, usually with low hedges, box, or flowers arranged in symmetrical patterns, so the word came to name the design itself rather than just the plot of earth. The pattern was the point: the beds were meant to be seen from above or from a terrace, which is why the arrangement had to be flat and regular.