Riads

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Traditional Moroccan houses or palaces with an interior garden or courtyard ; an architectural style featuring inward-facing buildings centered on a garden ; private residences or compounds designed around enclosed courtyards typical in North African culture
2. Dwellings characterized by a central open-air garden surrounded by rooms ; an architectural form emphasizing privacy and natural light in residential designs ; historic or cultural homes built to accommodate social and environmental aspects in Morocco
3. Residences designed with inward-oriented gardens providing tranquility ; buildings that reflect Islamic architectural principles focusing on internal courtyards ; homes often found in Moroccan medinas serving as both private and communal spaces

Etymology: "Riads" is the plural of "riad", a word borrowed from Arabic "riyāḍ", meaning "gardens". The Arabic word is itself the plural of "rawḍa", "garden" or "meadow", so the term has carried its sense of a cultivated green space since its earliest use. The modern sense of a house built around an enclosed central garden grew out of that meaning. In Morocco, these houses turn their backs on the street, with blank outer walls and few windows, and open inward onto a courtyard planted with trees and fountains. Rooms face the garden, so light and air come from within rather than from the street, and the house stays private and cool.

Synonyms: Moroccan houses, traditional houses