Etymology From Middle English pavilloun, from Anglo-Norman pavilloun, from Latin pāpiliōnem, form of pāpiliō (“butterfly, moth”) (due to resemblance of tent to a butterfly’s wings), of unknown origin. Doublet of papilio and papillon. Cognate to French pavillon (“pavilion”) and papillon (“butterfly”), and similar terms in other Romance languages.
Government, Heraldry, Hobbies, Lifestyle, Monarchy, Nobility, Politics An ornate tent, used either as a charge or bearing, or surrounding a shield as or atop the mantling.
12
A covering; a canopy; figuratively, the sky.
For after the rain when with never a stain, / The pavilion of heaven is bare, […]1819 or 1820 (date written), Percy Bysshe Shelley, “The Cloud”, in Prometheus Unbound […], London: C[harles] and J[ames] Ollier […], published 1820, →OCLC, stanza 6, page 200:
Etymology From Middle English pavilloun, from Anglo-Norman pavilloun, from Latin pāpiliōnem, form of pāpiliō (“butterfly, moth”) (due to resemblance of tent to a butterfly’s wings), of unknown origin. Doublet of papilio and papillon. Cognate to French pavillon (“pavilion”) and papillon (“butterfly”), and similar terms in other Romance languages.
1
To furnish with a pavilion.
2
To put inside a pavilion.
3
Figuratively To enclose or surround (after Robert Grant's hymn line "pavilioned in splendour, And girded with praise").