antechamber

American  

[an-tee-cheym-ber] / ˈæn tiˌtʃeɪm bər /

noun

1. a chamber or room that serves as a waiting room and entrance to a larger room or an apartment; anteroom.

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antechamber British  

/ ˈæntɪˌtʃeɪmbə /

noun

1. another name for anteroom

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Etymology

Origin of antechamber

1650–60; earlier antichamber < French antichambre, as translation of Italian anticamera, equivalent to anti- (< Latin ante- ante- ) + camera chamber

Example Sentences

The larynx functions like an antechamber to the windpipe, or trachea, with a flap of tissue called the epiglottis keeping food and drink from falling down the windpipe.

From New York Times

A portrait of the thin-mustachioed director as a saintly figure sits alongside stained glass recreations of some of his most famous collaborators, including Divine and David Lochary, in a chapel-like antechamber.

From Los Angeles Times

He was looking into the antechamber of the tomb of Tutankhamun, a ruler who sat his throne for only around 10 years but did so at a pivotal time in Egyptian history.

From Scientific American

Dr. Reeves proposed that the tomb was, in fact, merely an antechamber to a grander sepulcher for Tutankhamun’s stepmother and predecessor, Nefertiti.

From New York Times

As darkness blanketed the city, the only spectacle left was in parliament, where teenagers and young men bedded down for another night on the mattresses they have laid out in the grand antechamber.

From Washington Post

Related Words

• corridor
• doorway
• foyer
• hall
• hallway
• porch
• vestibule
• waiting room