Definition of temenos in English:
temenos
nounPlural temenoi ˈtɛmənɒs
Archaeology A piece of ground surrounding or adjacent to a temple; a sacred enclosure or precinct.
Example sentencesExamples
- Extensive quarrying in Byzantine times has removed all evidence of earlier levels here, but topographically a main entrance into the temenos on Temple Hill in antiquity on this side makes the most sense.
- According to him, the maidens were able to enter the temenos (sacred precinct) unharmed over a number of years, despite the vigilance of the inhabitants of Ilion.
- Comparable colonnade-vestibules are found in several public and sacred buildings, opening into a space within a temenos or a public space.
- This was a typical Romano-Celtic temple set inside a larger temenos, built before AD 100 and probably remaining in use up to the C5.
- We cannot rule out the possibility that another large, centrally located temenos of Apollo at Corinth, otherwise unattested in literary sources, has eluded the excavators of Corinth for more than a century.
Origin
Early 19th century: from Greek, from the stem of temnein 'cut off'.