# What is the word for this thing? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 30, 2006, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-word-for-this-thing/342156 "2006-01-30T02:53:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Plan\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Plan\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plan_B)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2006, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-word-for-this-thing/342156/1 "2006-01-30T02:53:41Z")
Sorry I can’t link to a picture; if I could I guess I’d probably know the name. But here’s the description: Four wooden posts in a rectangular pattern, supporting a wooden roof which is usually at a slant. Frequently seen in Mediterranean climates, where you need protection from the rain but no protection from cold and wind. I have a feeling I’m gonna be using one of these shortly :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2006, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-word-for-this-thing/342156/2 "2006-01-30T03:05:46Z")
Is it some version of a [cabana?](http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/cabana) Probably not but maybe that will serve as a clue. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2006, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-word-for-this-thing/342156/3 "2006-01-30T03:14:02Z")
A lean-to? ---
**Author:** ![sandra\_nz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@sandra\_nz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sandra_nz)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2006, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-word-for-this-thing/342156/4 "2006-01-30T03:19:52Z")
Yup, sounds like a lean-to to me! ---
**Author:** ![Plan\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Plan\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plan_B)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2006, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-word-for-this-thing/342156/5 "2006-01-30T03:20:42Z")
No, a cabana and a lean-to have walls. This thing has no walls. ---
**Author:** ![Number](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/number/32/242_2.png) [@Number](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Number)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2006, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-word-for-this-thing/342156/6 "2006-01-30T03:30:01Z")
A pavilion? ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2006, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-word-for-this-thing/342156/7 "2006-01-30T03:30:16Z")
[Gazebo](http://images.google.com/images?q=gazebo&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&sa=N&tab=wi) ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2006, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-word-for-this-thing/342156/8 "2006-01-30T03:32:05Z")
I know what you are talking about, but for the life of me can’t remember the proper term for it. Like a covered area under which sits a picnic table. There are a bunch of them on Catalina Island, I recall. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2006, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-word-for-this-thing/342156/9 "2006-01-30T03:52:49Z")
> [@Plan B](#): > > No, a cabana and a lean-to have walls. This thing has no walls. SInce when did a lean-to need to have walls? [Link to pic](http://www.wildernessadventures.net/lean-to.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2006, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-word-for-this-thing/342156/10 "2006-01-30T04:00:10Z")
From my midwestern POV, it sounds like a carport. It keeps off the rain and sun, but the wind and cold come right through. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2006, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-word-for-this-thing/342156/11 "2006-01-30T04:41:08Z")
A ramada? I encountered ramadas in Arizona. The roofs of the ones I saw weren’t solid, however. They were meant to provide shade more than protection from rain. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2006, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-word-for-this-thing/342156/12 "2006-01-30T05:13:26Z")
'Nother vote for [a ramada](http://www.humboldtredwoods.org/images/ramada.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2006, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-word-for-this-thing/342156/13 "2006-01-30T05:21:34Z")
Squink got it. gazebo A freestanding, roofed, usually open-sided structure providing a shady resting place. Ramada can be used to describe those things but ramadas commonly have one or more walls, so long at least one side is open. ---
**Author:** ![Plan\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Plan\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plan_B)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2006, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-word-for-this-thing/342156/14 "2006-01-31T00:19:11Z")
Thanks to all for the responses. I have to go with “ramada,” at least the picture in the link is closest to what I’m thinking of. Four posts, no walls, one roof. I always think of a gazebo as having more than four sides and usually some minimal walls. It’s reassuring that we had over 300 looks and no clear answer. I was thinking it was some real obvious word that had just slipped my mind for the last week. Oh, and about lean-tos: every one I ever saw had three walls.