— penthouselike , adj.
/pent"hows'/ , n. , pl. penthouses /-how'ziz/ .
1. an apartment or dwelling on the roof of a building, usually set back from the outer walls.
2. any specially designed apartment on an upper floor, esp. the top floor, of a building.
3. a structure on a roof for housing elevator machinery, a water tank, etc.
4. Also called pent, pentice /pen"tis/ . a shed with a sloping roof, or a sloping roof, projecting from a wall or the side of a building, as to shelter a door.
5. any rooflike shelter or overhanging part.
6. See shed roof .
7. Court Tennis. a corridor having a slanted roof and projecting from three walls of the court.
[ 1520-30; alter. (by folk etymology) of ME pentis apentiz, equiv. to apent ptp. of apendre to hang against (see APPENDANT) + -iz (F -is ) aticium, n. use of neut. of * -aticius, equiv. to L -at ( us ) -ATE 1 + -icius adj. suffix ]