rotunda
Americannoun
-
rotundas
plural
-
a round building, especially one with a dome.
-
a large and high circular hall or room in a building, especially one surmounted by a dome.
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of rotunda
1680–90; alteration of Italian rotonda, noun use of feminine of rotondo < Latin rotundus rotund
Explanation
When making the plans for your new house, consider adding a rotunda, or a round room. It will give the house a grand appearance and also allow you to walk in circles as much as you please. You may have heard the adjective rotund to describe a person with a round shape. Rotunda, with an -a at the end, is a noun that refers to a type of building or room that is round and often has a dome on top. Rotundas are often found as part of large, important buildings such as capitol buildings and museums.
Vocabulary lists containing rotunda
Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Cormac McCarthy's "The Road"
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Vocabulary Video Contest (2013) - List 1
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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.
See Examples For:
Beneath the rotunda, Trump also showed Xi the US constitution, the document that set out the principles of the country's democratic government two and a half centuries ago.
From Barron's ● Sep. 25, 2026
A marvelous frieze chronicling American history, begun by the Italian-American artist Constantino Brumidi, overlooks the rotunda.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
Go the Capitol rotunda and look up at the dome, where Constantino Brumidi’s fresco The Apotheosis of Washington, painted during the Civil War, shows Washington in heaven, flanked by goddesses.
From Slate ● Feb. 16, 2026
And it incinerated his white-and-green stable with its stately central rotunda.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 4, 2025
When she entered the rotunda, she saw Charles Chiltington slipping out into the lobby again.
From "Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library" by Chris Grabenstein
A famous example was a 1986 column on the Solomon R. Guggenheim’s proposal to expand its iconic Frank Lloyd Wright building by erecting a rectangular tower behind the smaller of the building’s two rotundas.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 7, 2026
Last year for Doors Open Day the Malin Group engineering firm which now inhabits one of the rotundas allowed the public to visit.
From BBC ● Feb. 24, 2024
Arenas and stadiums are circumscribed spaces — rotundas if you will — with miniature societal compacts, and when you lack self-management in that space, you get ejected.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 8, 2021
TV news crews often do live hits and interviews from both rotundas.
From Fox News ● Mar. 23, 2019
After a short ascent, the whole city spread out before them, immense, imperial, radiant, bristling with spires and columns and obelisks, crowned with cupolas and rotundas, clean cut out of the blue like a citadel.
From The Child of Pleasure by Georgina Harding
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.
