vestibule

American  

[ves-tuh-byool] / ˈvɛs təˌbjul /

noun

• vestibules
  plural

1. a passage, hall, or antechamber between the outer door and the interior parts of a house or building.

2. Railroads. an enclosed space at the end of a passenger car, serving as a sheltered entrance to the car from another car or from outside the train.

3. Anatomy, Zoology. any of various cavities or hollows regarded as forming an approach or entrance to another cavity or space, as that of the internal ear.

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verb (used with object)

vestibuled, vestibuling

1. to provide with a vestibule.

vestibule British  

/ vɛˈstɪbjʊlə, ˈvɛstɪˌbjuːl /

noun

1. a small entrance hall or anteroom; lobby

2. any small bodily cavity or space at the entrance to a passage or canal

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vestibule Scientific  

/ vĕs′tə-byo̅o̅l′ /

1. An oval cavity in the inner ear that together with the semicircular canals makes up the organ that maintains equilibrium in vertebrates.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• vestibular
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• vestibules
  plural

Etymology

Origin of vestibule

First recorded in 1615–25, vestibule is from the Latin word vestibulum forecourt, entrance

Explanation

A vestibule is a little area just inside the main door of a building, but before a second door. You often find vestibules in churches, because they help keep heat from escaping every time someone enters or exits. The noun vestibule, pronounced "VES-tih-bule," probably comes from the Latin word vestibulum, which means “entrance court.” From about 1880 to 1930 vestibules were popular features in new homes because they create an additional barrier that keeps heat or cool air in and street noise out. If you have a vestibule, you can hang coats and leave shoes and gloves there instead of bringing them into the living room, kitchen and so on.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

vestibule vestibules vestibuled

Details make all the difference in the small powder room by Rebecca J. Hansen, who explains that both the room and the nearby vestibule are focused on mixing patterns while keeping a consistent color palette.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 29, 2026

Federal officials detained two Target workers in the vestibule of a store and frequently gathered in store parking lots.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 11, 2026

Taking the photographs in a vestibule at the end of a carriage, Edwards taped a large bag to the opposite window to reduce the glare - though the train conductor was not so happy.

From BBC ● Sep. 25, 2024

Julia Andreasen, a graduate student at UM, was trapped in her tent for 24 hours after drifting snow buried the vestibule.

From Science Magazine ● Apr. 18, 2024

But when I stepped past the vestibule, I gasped.

From "Crispin: The Cross of Lead" by Avi

Others rise from the open-air vestibules of the suites.

From New York Times ● Sep. 27, 2022

Some schools had security vestibules at their entrances and buzz-in systems to get inside from the outdoors.

From Salon ● May 27, 2022

In fact, Ruthroff says, vestibules first became popular architectural features during the Spanish flu pandemic a century ago.

From Seattle Times ● May 3, 2022

People lie under the seats in sleeper cars and crouch in the hallways or in the vestibules between train cars.

From Washington Post ● Jan. 20, 2020

Despite Pullman’s vestibules ice as fine as dust settled between coaches and filled Burnham’s train with the tang of deep winter.

From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson

There were no sleeping-cars in those days, nor vestibuled trains, nor even cars with stuffed easy-chairs in which one could lie back and make himself comfortable.

From Campmates A Story of the Plains by Kirk Munroe

Train Number Three, the "Flying Kestrel," vestibuled, had crossed the yellow Rubicon of the West and was mounting toward the Occident up the gentle acclivities of the Great Plain.

From A Romance in Transit by Francis Lynde

The walls and ceiling were absolutely tight, the windows and vestibuled door screened and all precautions taken to prevent the entrance of insects.

From Popular Science Monthly Oct, Nov, Dec, 1915 — Volume 86 by Anonymous

Over the vestibuled entrance rises the western tower.

From Cathedrals and Cloisters of the South of France, Volume 1 by Elise Whitlock Rose

Jumping up from the seat, she and the Princess swam down the aisle, across the vestibuled platform, through the next car, and then into the diner.

From The Iceberg Express by David Cory

Related Words

• doorway
• foyer
• hallway
• porch