n. A stone block used as the base of a monument, marker etc.
n. A platform outside the raised entrance to a church or large building, or the steps leading to such a platform.
the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English
n. An out-of-door flight of steps, as in a garden, leading to a terrace or to an upper story; -- usually applied to mediƦvel or later structures of some architectural pretensions.
The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
n. In architecture, an external flight of steps by which access is given to the entrance-door of a building when the principal floor is raised above the level of the ground. It is often so treated as to form an important architectural adornment.
Word Usage
"The drawbridge has been replaced by a modern "perron" or flight of stone steps, which leads to the entrance hall."