1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Peristyle

PERISTYLE (Gr. περί, round, and στυλος, column), in architecture, a range of columns (whether rectangular or circular on plan) in one or two rows, enclosing the sanctuary of a temple; the term is also applied to the same feature when built round the court in which the temple is situated and in Roman houses to the court in the rear, round which the private rooms of the family were arranged, which were entered from the covered colonnade round the court.