In Scotland, a Pend is a passageway through a building, often from a street through to a

courtyard A courtyard or court is a circumscribed area, often surrounded by a building or complex, that is open to the sky. Courtyards are common elements in both Western and Eastern building patterns and have been used by both ancient and contemporary ...

or 'back court', and may be for both vehicles and pedestrian access or exclusively pedestrians. The term "common pend" can often be found in descriptions of Scottish property for sale, such as "a common pend shared with the residential dwellings above". A pend is distinct from a

vennel A vennel is a passageway between the gables of two buildings which can in effect be a minor street in Scotland and the north east of England, particularly in the old centre of Durham. Etymology In Scotland, the term originated in royal burghs ...

or a

close Close may refer to: Music * ''Close'' (Kim Wilde album), 1988 * ''Close'' (Marvin Sapp album), 2017 * ''Close'' (Sean Bonniwell album), 1969 * "Close" (Sub Focus song), 2014 * "Close" (Nick Jonas song), 2016 * "Close" (Rae Sremmurd song), 201 ...

, as it has rooms directly above it, whereas vennels and closes tend not to be covered over and are typically passageways between separate buildings. However, a 'close' also means a common entry to multi-dwelling tenement properties in Scotland.

Etymology

The

OED The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the first and foundational historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP). It traces the historical development of the English language, providing a com ...

suggests that the etymology of the word is probably related to the archaic verb ''pend'' - "arch, arch over, vault", this in turn being derived from the

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

''pendre'', Latin ''pendēre'' "to hang", from which also derives the word

pendulum A pendulum is a weight suspended from a pivot so that it can swing freely. When a pendulum is displaced sideways from its resting, equilibrium position, it is subject to a restoring force due to gravity that will accelerate it back toward the ...

, online edition, draft revision December 2007, entries for ''pend, n²'' and ''pend, v²' '

References

Architecture in Scotland Architectural elements {{Architecturalelement-stub