Atrium

//ˈeɪ.tɹi.əm// noun

noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A central room or space in ancient Roman homes, open to the sky in the middle; a similar space in other buildings.
  2. 2
    the central area in a building; open to the sky wordnet
  3. 3
    A square hall lit by daylight from above, into which rooms open at one or more levels.
  4. 4
    any chamber that is connected to other chambers or passageways (especially one of the two upper chambers of the heart) wordnet
  5. 5
    A cavity, entrance, or passage.

    "an atrium of the infundibula of the lungs"

Show 4 more definitions
  1. 6
    Any enclosed body cavity or chamber.
  2. 7
    An upper chamber of the heart that receives blood from the veins and forces it into a ventricle. In higher vertebrates, the right atrium receives blood from the superior vena cava and inferior vena cava, and the left atrium receives blood from the left and right pulmonary veins.
  3. 8
    A microscopic air sac within a pulmonary alveolus.
  4. 9
    A cavity inside a porate aperture of a pollen grain formed by the separation of the sexine and nexine layers, widening toward the interior of the grain.

    "Nexine 0.5μ thick, separating from the sexine about 5μ from the pore and forming a deep, well-defined atrium."

Synonyms

All synonyms
auriclecavaediumcavaedium

Example

More examples

"The restaurant's prices reflect the dining room's plush surroundings — polished stone floors, uncrowded, comfortable seating, a coffered ceiling, overhead chandeliers and a glass-domed atrium featuring a pond with water lilies and traditional lanterns."

Etymology

From Latin ātrium (“entry hall”), from Etruscan.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.