1. A lobby or anteroom, as of a theater or hotel.
2. An entrance hall; a vestibule.

[French, social center, from Old French foier, fireplace, from Vulgar Latin *focārium, from Late Latin, neuter of focārius, of the hearth (unattested sense), from Latin focus, fire.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.