a portico at the west end of a basilica or church, esp one that is at right angles to the nave
2.
a rectangular entrance hall between the porch and nave of a church
Word origin
C17: via Latin from Medieval Greek: enclosed porch, enclosure (earlier: box), fromGreek narthēx giant fennel, the stems of which were used to make boxes
narthex in American English
(ˈnɑrˌθɛks)
noun
1.
in early Christian churches, a porch or portico at the west end for penitents and others not admitted to the church itself
2.
any church vestibule leading to the nave
Word origin
LL(Ec) < LGr(Ec) narthēx < Gr, giant fennel: from a fancied resemblance of the porch to the hollow stem
Examples of 'narthex' in a sentence
narthex
This man lived alone in the old narthex.
Marsden, Philip The Crossing-Place (1993)
Last spring the hospitality committee put a little coffee stand in the narthex.