Floor
In architecture, a floor is generally the lower horizontal surface of a room (see also flooring). The various levels of rooms in a building are also called floors or stories (storeys in British English): "ground floor", "first story", "mezzanine floor", etc.
A confusion arises between the two forms of floor numbering in use worldwide.
In most of Europe, and thus British usage, the floor at the ground level is the ground floor, and the floor above is the first floor, which maintains the continental European use dating from the days of the construction of palaces. For example, in French, the term for the ground floor is rez de chaussée. But in North American usage, the floor at the ground level is the first floor and the floor above is the second floor; this system is also used in Russia and other countries of the former Soviet Union.
The principal floor is the storey which contains the chief apartments, whether on the ground floor or the floor above; in Italy they are always on the latter and known as the piano nobile. The storey below the ground floor is called the basement even if only a little below ground level, or the cellar; the story in a roof is known as the attic or the loft.
In the U.S., the expressions one pair, two pair, etc., apply to the storeys above the first flight of stairs from the ground (see also carpentry).
Floor coverings
See also
This article incorporates text from the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, which is in the public domain.
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