The term _parvise_, though used in somewhat different senses by old
writers, appears to mean strictly a _porch_ or _antechamber_. Your
correspondent OXONIENSIS will find in Parker's _Glossary_ ample information
respecting this word, with references to various writers, showing the
different meanings which have been attached to it. "Responsions," or the
preliminary examinations at Oxford, are said to be held _in parviso_; that
is, in the porch, as it were, or antechamber before the schools, which are
the scene of the greater examinations for the degree.