a semicircular portico with curved outdoor high-backed benches that was often used in ancient Greek and Roman times as meeting area.

In Roman civil architecture, a decorated semicircular recess that serves as a "conversation nook." . In Church architecture, the semicircular recess where a bishop would be seated.

This term applies to any architectural element that opens off and onto a usually larger element. In Roman baths exedrae were often open rooms off the palaestra, used for rest and relaxation (see Pliny Ep. 10.70.3). Identified exedrae sometimes have columns in their front and often have seats and benches. Vitruvius (5.11.2) comments that they were used for philosophical debates and other educational purposes.

a semicircular or rectangular recess open on one side to a lobby or court

a large niche or recess, usually with a bench or seats and usually of semicircular or rectangular plan

a semi circular recess, covered by a half dome, which is usually set into the building's facade

Wall alcove with bench space

The Greek word 'exedra' originally meant a building standing apart from a dwelling. Later, it was used for a hall with seating, attached to a peristyle, gymnasium, palaestra or private house. In gardens, it usually means an area with a semicircular area backed by a wall or hedge.

A semicircular niche or hemicycle.

An often semicircular Portico with seats that was used in ancient Greece and Rome as a place for discussions.

An open recess

a large curving space set back in a wall or colonnade, generally uncovered and bigger than an apse

A permanent open air masonry bench with high back, usually semicircular in plan, patterned after the porches or alcoves of classical antiquity where philosophical discussions were held; in cemeteries, used as an element of landscape design and as a type of tomb monument.

A building, room, portico or apse containing a continuous bench, used in ancient Greece and Rome for holding discussions.

In architecture an exedra is a semicircular recess, often crowned by a half-dome, which is usually set into a building's facade. The original Greek sense (a seat out of doors) was applied to a room that opened onto a stoa, ringed with curved high-backed stone benches, a suitable place for a philosophical conversation. An exedra may also be expressed by a curved break in a colonnade, perhaps with a semi-circular seat.