rotunda
Americannoun
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a round building, especially one with a dome.
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a large and high circular hall or room in a building, especially one surmounted by a dome.
noun
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
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Cormac McCarthy's "The Road"
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Vocabulary Video Contest (2013) - List 1
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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.
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
While robots in the rotunda were programmed to dance, other robots at the event were teleoperated by engineers who wore body suits and virtual-reality headsets.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 3, 2026
And it incinerated his white-and-green stable with its stately central rotunda.
From Los Angeles Times • May 4, 2025
Everywhere the camera pointed inside the rotunda, a new “most fugly jacket I’ve ever seen” appeared.
From Salon • Jan. 21, 2025
He could see the shadowy figure of the bulky security guard slinking away from the round desk at the center of the rotunda.
From "Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library" by Chris Grabenstein
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.
