cella
Americannoun
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the principal enclosed chamber of a classical temple.
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the entire central structure of a classical temple.
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of cella
1670–80; < Latin: storeroom, shrine, akin to cēlāre to hide; see conceal
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.
Enough old stones exist to rebuild much of the wall of the Parthenon's rectangular interior chamber, or cella.
From Time Magazine Archive
For the purposes of the church, an apse was built at the east end of the cella, and the entrance was moved to the west end.
From A Catalogue of Sculpture in the Department of Greek and Roman Antiquities, British Museum, Volume I (of 2) by Smith, A. H.
Thus the north porch gave admission to a temenos, but not according to present theory to the eastern cella of Athena.
From Problems in Periclean Buildings by Elderkin, G. W. (George Wicker)
A possible interpretation is that the painting was in the cella of Athena on the wall behind the xoanon, but the paintings of the Butadae were in the first room which Pausanias entered.
From Problems in Periclean Buildings by Elderkin, G. W. (George Wicker)
The eastern door of the Erechtheum was not the normal, not the intended entrance to the cella of Athena, but served as the traditional eastern entrance toward which the xoanon faced.
From Problems in Periclean Buildings by Elderkin, G. W. (George Wicker)
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.
