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

Soon after, Duverne tried to set fire to an emergency light in an elevator vestibule, Lalaind added.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 1, 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

He went down the steps into the vestibule and stood looking out into the street through the plate glass of the front door.

From "Native Son" by Richard Wright

Then White went to her old neighborhood in Southeast, sleeping in building vestibules.

From Washington Post ● Nov. 14, 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

We found “Jail” sheathed in a plexiglass-fronted wood frame in one of the vestibules.

From New York Times ● Mar. 23, 2022

Francie polished the brass bell plates in the three vestibules and cleaned each banister spoke with an oiled cloth.

From "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" by Betty Smith

Fortunately the cars were vestibuled, so the platforms offered no impediment.

From His Lordship's Leopard A Truthful Narration of Some Impossible Facts by Wells, David Dwight

The first vestibuled trains in which the platforms were enclosed, were built under his supervision under what are known to-day as the “Sessions Patents.”

From The Story of the Rome, Watertown, and Ogdensburg RailRoad by Hungerford, Edward

It was a wearisome task, especially when Wallace accompanied her, for his tastes ran to expensive and vestibuled apartments and fashionable streets.

From Martie, the Unconquered by Norris, Kathleen Thompson

Strange, almost apologetic, it sounded after its years of silence; not at all like the throaty bellow of derision with which the long, vestibuled coast trains thundered through the forsaken village.

From The Promise A Tale of the Great Northwest by Hendryx, James B. (James Beardsley)

Over the vestibuled entrance rises the western tower.

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

Related Words

• doorway
• foyer
• hallway
• porch