Also 7 (chouske), chiosque, 7–9 kiosque, 8 kioske, kiosc, chiosk, 9 keoschk. [= F. kiosque (It. chiosco), a. Turk. kiūshk pavilion, Pers. kūskh palace, portico.]
1. An open pavilion or summerhouse of light construction, often supported by pillars and surrounded with a balustrade; common in Turkey and Persia, and imitated in gardens and parks in Western Europe.
1625. Purchas, Pilgrims, II. ix. 1581. Some [Rooms] also vpon the Sea side, which are called Kiosks, that is Roomes of faire prospect, or (as we terme them) banquetting Houses. Ibid., 1626. Banquetting Houses, which they call Chouskes.
1682. Wheler, Journ. Greece, II. 204. A stately Chiosque, or Summer-house.
1717. Lady M. W. Montagu, Lett. to Mrs. Thistlethwayte, 1 April. In the public gardens there are public chiosks, where people go … and drink their coffee, sherbet, &c.
1816. J. Scott, Vis. Paris (ed. 5), 289. The great Cedar … Before it lost its top … must have nearly equalled the brass kiosk in elevation.
1863. Kinglake, Crimea (1876), I. i. 20. To have the dominion of the summer kiosks, and the steep shady gardens looking down on the straits between Europe and Asia, is to have a command which carries with it nothing less than an Empire.
2. A light ornamental structure resembling this, used for the sale of newspapers (in France and Belgium), for a band-stand, or for other purposes.
1865. Daily Tel., 5 Dec., 3/4. A ‘kiosk’—i.e., a place for the sale of newspapers.
1868. Morn. Star, 26 Feb. The kiosques in which the two military bands were stationed, were illuminated by lampions and electric light.
1870. W. Chambers, Winter Mentone, i. 13. At kiosks on the Quai … several Paris daily newspapers may be purchased.
