or SALOON, in architecture, a lofty, spacious sort of hall, vaulted at top, and usually comprehending two stories, with two ranges of windows.

The saloon is a grand room in the middle of a building, or at the head of a gallery, &c. Its faces, or sides, are all to have a symmetry with each other; and as it usually takes up the height of two stories, its ceiling, Daviler observes, should be with a moderate sweep. The saloon is a state-room much used in the palaces in Italy; and from thence the mode came to us. Ambassadors, and other great visitors, are usually received in the saloon.

It is sometimes built square, sometimes round or oval, sometimes octagonal, as at Marly, and sometimes in other forms.