foyer

[ foi-er, foi-ey; French fwa-yey ]

noun

, plural foy·ers [foi, -erz, -eyz, fw, a, -, yey].

1. the lobby of a theater, hotel, or apartment house.
2. a vestibule or entrance hall in a house or apartment.

foyer

/ ˈfɔɪeɪ; ˈfɔɪə /

noun

1. a hall, lobby, or anteroom, used for reception and as a meeting place, as in a hotel, theatre, cinema, etc
2. (in Britain) a centre providing accommodation and employment training, etc. for homeless young people

Word History and Origins

Origin of foyer¹

1855–60; < French: fireplace, hearth (originally a room to which theater audiences went for warmth between the acts) < Gallo-Latin *focārium, equivalent to Latin foc ( us ) hearth ( focus ) + -ārium -arium

Word History and Origins

Origin of foyer¹

C19: from French: fireplace, from Medieval Latin focārius , from Latin focus fire

Example Sentences

The Jacobs entrance puts you directly in an actual concert hall foyer.

From Los Angeles Times

Framed on a clubhouse foyer was a racy 1990 Playboy magazine cover featuring Trump and Playmate Brandi Brandt, who has his tuxedo jacket wrapped around her otherwise nude body.

From Los Angeles Times

But Lord Sainsbury - a former chair of the supermarket chain - disliked Mr Venturi's addition of two non-structural columns in the foyer.

From BBC

A mother-of-two has said she was in "disbelief" after giving birth in the foyer of a busy cinema.

From BBC

For a time, he had a portrait of Henry Ford hanging on his office wall and, in the foyer, translations of the Ford treatise, "The International Jew: The World’s Foremost Problem."

From Salon

Related Words

• lobby
• vestibule