A cradle or crib, especially an ornamental bed or shelter; in architecture, a barrel-vaulted passageway.
From Old French 'bercel' meaning cradle, derived from Latin 'bercium.' The word traveled from French into English in the 1600s, maintaining its architectural sense.
A 'berceau' in a garden is literally a cradle of vines—the same word describes both the furniture cradling babies and the garden structure cradling plants, showing how metaphor builds language.
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.