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FLOOR (from O. Eng. flor, a word common to many Teutonic languages, cf. Dutch vloer, and Ger. Flur, a field, in the feminine, and a floor, masculine)
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FLOOR (from O. Eng. flor, a word common to many Teutonic languages, cf. Dutch vloer, and Ger. Flur, a field, in the feminine, and a floor, masculine), generally the lower horizontal surface of a room, but specially employed for one covered with boarding or parquetry. The various levels of rooms in a house are designated as " ground-floor," " first-floor," " mezzanine-floor," &c. The principal floor is the storey which contains the chief apartments whether on the ground- or first-floor; in Italy they are always on the latter and known as the " piano nobile." The storey below the ground-floor is called the " basement-floor," even if only a little below the level of the pavement outside; the storey in a roof is known as the " attic-floor." The expressions one pair, two pair, &c., apply to the storeys above the first flight of stairs from the ground (see also CARPENTRY).