antechamber

[ an-tee-cheym-ber ]

noun

1. a chamber or room that serves as a waiting room and entrance to a larger room or an apartment; anteroom.

antechamber

/ ˈæntɪˌtʃeɪmbə /

noun

1. another name for anteroom

Word History and Origins

Origin of antechamber¹

1650–60; earlier antichamber < French antichambre, as translation of Italian anticamera, equivalent to anti- (< Latin ante- ante- ) + camera chamber

Word History and Origins

Origin of antechamber¹

C17: from Old French, from Italian anticamera; see ante- , chamber

Example Sentences

Most of those banished from Paris won’t qualify for permanent housing in their new locations, and as for asylum status, one lawyer in France calls the busing program “an antechamber to deportation.”

From Los Angeles Times

The larynx functions like an antechamber to the windpipe, or trachea, with a flap of tissue called the epiglottis keeping food and drink from falling down the windpipe.

From New York Times

“There is a deep connection between these two dates for many Roman Jews. The racial laws represented an antechamber to the Nazi extermination.”

From Seattle Times

A portrait of the thin-mustachioed director as a saintly figure sits alongside stained glass recreations of some of his most famous collaborators, including Divine and David Lochary, in a chapel-like antechamber.

From Los Angeles Times

He was looking into the antechamber of the tomb of Tutankhamun, a ruler who sat his throne for only around 10 years but did so at a pivotal time in Egyptian history.

From Scientific American

Related Words

• corridor
• doorway
• foyer
• hall
• hallway
• porch
• vestibule
• waiting room