cellar

[ sel-er ]

noun

1. a room, or set of rooms, for the storage of food, fuel, etc., wholly or partly underground and usually beneath a building.
2. an underground room or story.
3. wine cellar.
4. Sports. the lowest position in a group ranked in order of games won:

   The team was in the cellar for most of the season.

verb (used with object)

1. to place or store in a cellar.

cellar

/ ˈsɛlə /

noun

1. an underground room, rooms, or storey of a building, usually used for storage Compare basement
2. a place where wine is stored
3. a stock of bottled wines

verb

1. tr to store in a cellar

Other Words From

• cellar·less adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of cellar¹

1175–1225; Middle English celer < Anglo-French < Latin cellārium storeroom, equivalent to cell ( a ) cell + -ārium -ary; later respelling to reflect Latin form; -er ², -ar ²

Word History and Origins

Origin of cellar¹

C13: from Anglo-French, from Latin cellārium food store, from cella cella

Example Sentences

The actor told the publication his addiction began with wine, specifically with a wine cellar he had built into his home where he "learned to drink my best."

From Salon

Some wondered why were focusing on cocktails and why we have a wine cellar in the restaurant.

From Salon

Potatoes would arrive in huge wooden crates and have to be lugged up from the cellar.

From BBC

Most often, though, it is like a cold, dank cellar…..

From BBC

One day when Nathan Queeley-Dennis was supposed to be busy lugging beer kegs in the cellar of the pub where he worked, he was instead writing his first script on his phone.

From BBC

Related Words

• apartment
• basement
• vault