antechamber
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of antechamber
1650–60; earlier antichamber < French antichambre, as translation of Italian anticamera, equivalent to anti- (< Latin ante- ante- ) + camera chamber
Explanation
An antechamber is an entryway or a small room that leads into a larger one. If you visit a friend who lives in a mansion, her butler may ask you to wait in the antechamber while he summons her. You're most likely to come across an antechamber in a very grand building or home — in most houses, a similar room would probably be called a "foyer" or a "hall." Sometimes the area where you wait before entering a museum or office is called an antechamber, but it's more often just a "waiting room." Palaces and crypts and pyramids often have antechambers. The word comes from the French antichambre.
Vocabulary lists containing antechamber
Florida's B.E.S.T. Roots: ante, anti
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Before You Know It: Ante
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The Night Circus
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Who should then be ushered into the same antechamber but Roland Dumas, former French foreign minister and right-hand man of ruling Socialist President François Mitterrand, Chirac’s arch-rival.
From BBC • Sep. 28, 2024
Nearby, inside the antechamber of the secretariat, a separate building that houses the president’s office, people mill around examining piles of used books and political pamphlets.
From New York Times • Jul. 10, 2022
The paintings on display beyond the antechamber play on themes of spectacle, public perception and sleight of hand.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 19, 2022
Inside the Speaker’s Lobby — an ornate antechamber that opens onto the House floor — police had barricaded the door with chairs and furniture.
From Washington Post • Jan. 7, 2021
Though they looked at them curiously, Kaisa paid no attention, and took Ash through a swinging wooden door into a deserted antechamber.
From "Ash" by Malinda Lo
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
