A mezzanine is a partial intermediate floor inside a building, sitting between two main storeys and usually open to the space below. A balcony projects outward from an upper floor, generally outdoors, with a railing and nothing supporting it beneath. One is a level within; the other hangs off the side.
The core difference
Both are raised platforms, but one is a floor and the other a projection.
- mezzanine — a partial storey between two main floors, internal, often overlooking the space below.
- balcony — projects from an upper floor, railed, usually external.
In theatres
Both words are used for seating levels, and inconsistently. In American theatres the mezzanine is generally the first level above the stalls, with the balcony above that. In British theatres the equivalents are usually called the dress circle and the upper circle — so the same physical seat has different names on each side of the Atlantic.
The word
Mezzanine comes through French from Italian mezzanino, from mezzo, middle — the same root as mezzo-soprano, a voice between soprano and contralto.
