properly a tent, a late use of Lat. papilio, butterfly, from which the word is derived through the French. The term is chiefly used of a tent with a high pitched roof, a small detached building used as a summer-house, &c., and particularly for a building attached to a recreation ground for the use of players and members. In architecture the term pavilion is specifically applied to a portion of a building which projects from the sides or central part. It is a characteristic of French renaissance architecture. Where the buildings of a large institution are broken up into detached portions, as in St Thomas's Hospital, London, the term is generally applied to such detached buildings.
For the musical instrument known as the Chinese pavilion or Jingling Johnny, see Chinese Pavilion.