an institution for the promotion of literary or scientific learning.
a library or reading room.
(initial capital letter) a sanctuary of Athena at Athens, built by the Roman emperor Hadrian, and frequented by poets and scholars.
(in ancient Greece) a building sacred to the goddess Athena, esp the Athenian temple that served as a gathering place for the learned
(in imperial Rome) the academy of learning established near the Forum in about 135 ad by Hadrian
an institution for the promotion of learning
a building containing a reading room or library, esp one used by such an institution
1720–30; < Latin < Greek Athḗnaion temple of Athena, where poets read their works
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In the 1800s, the Fairbanks brothers moved to town, earning their fortune through the invention and production of the platform scale; they founded a museum, athenaeum and academy, all operating to this day.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 8, 2020
The back of his state-issued S.U.V. is stacked with notebooks filled with ideas and data culled from books and articles and conversations with nearly four hundred experts; it’s a kind of rolling athenaeum.
From The New Yorker ● Oct. 29, 2018
This was on April 20, 2016, the day after a book event at Folio, a brand-new athenaeum in downtown Seattle, where I had been expecting to see Dotty Guth, a former New Yorker colleague.
From The New Yorker ● Apr. 18, 2017
But Dotty was not at the athenaeum that night.
From The New Yorker ● Apr. 18, 2017
Besides numerous other places of worship, there are a handsome town hall, athenaeum and museum, art gallery and public library, various assembly rooms, and several recreation grounds.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 4, Part 4 "Bulgaria" to "Calgary" by Various
Unlike the Vaughan and Athenaeum portraits, he doesn’t look out at us but into the distance.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 2026
The Vaughan and Athenaeum portraits were an immediate hit and became the templates: Over time, Stuart would paint over 100 of them, including for such international luminaries as Viscount Cremorne, Benjamin West and Aaron Burr.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 2026
Devon and Cornwall Police said officers were called at about 18:50 GMT to the Notte Street and Athenaeum Street area, in Plymouth, on Monday.
From BBC ● Dec. 24, 2025
The large oil paintings in Kim Abraham’s show at the Athenaeum can be seen as either micro or macro.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 1, 2022
The performance was uncompromisingly British, and I quietly concluded that the white-mustached figure of Bragg now spent most of its days sitting in London clubs like the Athenaeum.
From "Double Helix" by James D. Watson
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.
