A small enclosed garden or courtyard, typically within or adjacent to a building complex such as a cloister. It can also refer to a yard or enclosed space around a house.
From Old Norse 'garðr' meaning 'enclosure' or 'yard', related to Old English 'geard' (yard). The word traveled through Germanic languages, originally describing any fenced or enclosed area for protection or cultivation.
Medieval monastery garths were often designed as microcosms of paradise, with carefully planned gardens representing the ordered beauty of divine creation. These enclosed spaces influenced the development of college quadrangles and urban courtyards we still see today.
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