テラス

Shogakukan Digital Daijisen writes テラス with English terrace and French terrasse, and CNRTL records French terrasse as an architectural word by 1295. Both forms go back to Latin terra, "earth." In French, terrasse named made ground, platforms, garden levels, and later outdoor parts of public places. CNRTL records the cafe sense in French by 1883. In modern Japan, テラス is part of Meiji and Taisho building vocabulary, then becomes common in housing, hotels, department-store restaurants, and cafes. It appears with バルコニー, ベランダ, デッキ, パティオ, and テラスハウス, but the Japanese word often names a usable open-air surface attached to a building. The related form テラスハウス follows English terrace house. The semantic change is from raised earthwork or stepped ground to a seating or living space. Today, a cafe sign may say テラス席 for outdoor tables, while a real-estate ad may use テラス for a paved area outside a living room. English terrace can also mean a row of attached houses in Britain or an agricultural step on a hillside. Japanese テラス retains the outdoor-platform sense but rarely uses the British housing meaning by itself. Example: テラス席あります means outdoor seats are available.