Pentis

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An archaic term for a lean-to roof that slopes away from the side of a building and shelters the space beneath it
2. A sloping roof attached to the outside wall of a building, often used to shelter a doorway or passage
3. An obsolete name for a projecting, sloped roof supported against a wall, similar to a modern awning or lean-to

Etymology: "Pentis" is a shortened form of the older "apentis," borrowed from Anglo-Norman. That Anglo-Norman word came from Medieval Latin "appendicium," meaning "something appended," from Latin "appendere," "to hang on." The original sense was a sloping roof hung onto the side of a larger building, a lean-to set against a wall. The initial "a-" was eventually dropped, probably because speakers heard it as an unrelated prefix. Once the "a-" was gone, English speakers could easily hear "pent" in the word and link it to "pent" meaning confined or shut in, which suited a small enclosed space. That association is a folk reinterpretation, not the true root. The form "penthouse," with "house" added, was later formed on this shortened base and eventually took over the sense of a structure built on top of a building.