| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. |
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| atrium |
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| SYLLABICATION: | a·tri·um |
| PRONUNCIATION: |    tr - m |
| NOUN: | Inflected forms: pl. a·tri·a ( tr-) or a·tri·ums
1. Architecture A rectangular court, as: a. A usually skylighted central area, often containing plants, in some modern buildings, especially of a public or commercial nature. b. The open area in the center of an ancient Roman house. c. The forecourt of a building, such as an early Christian church, enclosed on three or four sides with porticoes. 2. Anatomy A body cavity or chamber, especially either of the upper chambers of the heart that receives blood from the veins and forces it into a ventricle. Also called auricle. | | ETYMOLOGY: | Latin trium. See ter- in Appendix I.
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| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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