parquet

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• noun A floor made of parquetry.
• noun The art or process of making parquetry.
• noun The part of the main floor of a theater between the orchestra pit and the parquet circle.
• noun The entire main floor of a theater.
• transitive verb To furnish with a floor of parquetry.
• transitive verb To make (a floor, for example) of parquetry.

from The Century Dictionary.

• noun Properly, that part of the auditorium of a theater which extends from the usual station of the musicians, in front of the stage, to the parterre, which is the part of the floor beneath the galleries; the former pit of an English theater (pit now being often used in a new sense, equivalent to parterre), or the orchestra of a French theater.
• noun In French law: The magistrates who are charged with the conduct of proceedings in criminal cases and misdemeanors.
• noun The space in a court-room between the judge's bench and the seats of the counsel.
• noun That part of the floor of a bourse which is reserved for the titular stockbrokers.
• noun Same as parquetry.
• Composed of parquetry: as, a parquet floor.
• To form or work in parquetry; inlay in wood arranged in a pattern.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

• noun A body of seats on the floor of a music hall or theater nearest the orchestra; but commonly applied to the whole lower floor of a theater, from the orchestra to the dress circle; the pit.
• noun Same as Parquetry.
• noun In various European public bourses, the railed-in space within which the “agents de change,” or privileged brokers, conduct business; also, the business conducted by them; -- distinguished from the coulisse, or outside market.
• noun In most European countries, the branch of the administrative government which is charged with the prevention, investigation, and punishment of crime, representing the public and not the individual injured.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

• adjective made of parquetry.
• noun a wooden floor made of parquetry.
• noun the part of a theatre between the orchestra and the parquet circle.
• verb transitive To lay or fit such a floor.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

• noun seating on the main floor between the orchestra and the parquet circle
• noun a floor made of parquetry