宫(palace)
帝王的住所，有时也指政治或宗教中心。该词源於罗马的帕拉蒂尼山，也就是罗马君王修建住所的地方。已知最早的宫殿是埃及国王们在底比斯所建，内有错综复杂的房间和庭院，四周有一道围墙。别的一些古国也兴建了为数众多的宫殿（如在尼姆鲁德、豪尔萨巴德和尼尼微修建的亚述宫殿；在克诺索斯修建的米诺斯宫殿；以及在波斯波利斯和苏萨修建的波斯宫殿）。在罗马和君士坦丁堡，宫殿作为权力的象徵达到了顶峰。而在中世纪以後，西欧的宫殿则偏向单独的建筑。义大利文艺复兴时期，每一位王侯都有其府邸，常以一道拱廊环绕内院而建。1560年建在佛罗伦斯的碧提宫是风格主义建筑的典范。法国的宫殿包括罗浮宫（参阅Louvre Museum）和凡尔赛宫；西班牙的宫殿则包括埃尔埃斯科里亚尔和艾勒汉布拉宫。与典型的西方建筑模式相比，东亚的建筑则多由一系列的宫殿（大多数是装饰华丽的低层木亭台）和带围墙的广阔园林组成，如日本的皇宫和北京的紫禁城。
English version：
palace
Royal residence, and sometimes a seat of government or religious center. The word derives from Rome's Palatine Hill, where the emperors built their residences. The earliest known palaces are those of the Egyptian kings at Thebes, with an outer wall enclosing a labyrinth of rooms and courtyards. Other ancient cultures also built vast palaces (e.g., the Assyrian palaces at Nimrud, Khorsabad, and Nineveh; the Minoan palace at Knossos; and the Persian palaces at Persepolis and Susa). In Rome and Constantinople, palaces reached their peak as centers of power. In Western Europe after the Middle Ages, palaces tended to be single buildings. In Renaissance Italy every prince had his royal palace, usually with an internal court surrounded by an arcade. The court of the Pitti Palace in Florence (1560) is an important example of Mannerist architecture. French palaces include the Louvre and Versailles; Spanish palaces include El Escorial and the Alhambra. In contrast to the typical Western format, East Asia's palaces, such as the imperial palaces of Japan and those in Beijing's Forbidden City, consist of many buildings (in these cases, low pavilions mostly of highly decorated wood construction) within vast, walled gardens.