atrium
American Heritage Dictionary:
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a·tri·um
(ā'trē-əm) 
n., pl., a·tri·a (ā'trē-ə), or -ums.
n., pl., a·tri·a (ā'trē-ə), or -ums.
- Architecture. A rectangular court, as:
- A usually skylighted central area, often containing plants, in some modern buildings, especially of a public or commercial nature.
- The open area in the center of an ancient Roman house.
- The forecourt of a building, such as an early Christian church, enclosed on three or four sides with porticoes.
- 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.
[Latin ātrium.]
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atrium
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(click to enlarge)
Atrium of the basilica of Sant’Ambrogio, Milan, 1088–1128. (credit: Alinari/Art Resource, New York)
Atrium of the basilica of Sant’Ambrogio, Milan, 1088–1128. (credit: Alinari/Art Resource, New York)
For more information on atrium, visit Britannica.com.
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A courtyard or patio surrounded by a house. May be open to the outside or be roofed with skylights to admit natural light; typically contains plants. Also, an open area in the center of a multistory building that extends to the top of the building. Rooms on the upper floors are commonly accessed by balcony-type corridors overlooking the atrium.
Example: Many rooms around the atrium have glass doors or walls, which brighten the house during daylight hours.
Example: Many rooms around the atrium have glass doors or walls, which brighten the house during daylight hours.
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Roget's Thesaurus:
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atrium
1.. The main hall of an ancient Roman house, containing an opening to the sky
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2. In a contemporary building, a large vertical space, often centrally located, that connects three or more floors and creates a sense of spaciousness.
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[Co]
Literally, the ‘place made black by the smoke’, but more generally used to refer to a small court or hall, open to the sky, sometimes colonnaded with four or more columns supporting the roof, and rooms opening on to the colonnade. In some Roman examples there is a central pond or basin to collect rainwater.
1. Either of two upper chambers of the heart; also known as the auricle. The right atrium receives deoxygenated blood from the body via the venae cavae, and the left atrium receives oxygenated blood from the lungs via the pulmonary veins.
2. An anatomical passage or chamber, such as the terminal saccule of the bronchioles associated with the alveoli in the lungs.
Columbia Encyclopedia:
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atrium
atrium (ā'trēəm), term for an interior court in Roman domestic architecture and also for a type of entrance court in early Christian churches. The Roman atrium was an unroofed or partially roofed area with rooms opening from it. In early times its center held a cooking hearth. After the 2d cent. B.C., when the hearth was placed elsewhere, the center of the atrium held a tank (impluvium) to receive rainwater falling through the opening, which also furnished light to the surrounding rooms. In more luxurious and complex Roman dwellings, the private apartments had a court of their own, called the peristyle, and the atrium served merely as a semipublic reception hall. The ruins of Pompeii contain remains of atria in their various forms. In early Christian churches, the atrium was a large arcaded or colonnaded open court, serving as a general meeting place, in front of the church itself, with a fountain used for ablutions in its center. The basilican churches of Sant'Ambrogio in Milan and San Clemente in Rome have noteworthy atria. This type of large forecourt is also a characteristic element of the Muslim mosque. The term also refers to a modern building's central court, an often soaring interior space with a large skylight. Creating a flood of natural light and usually filled with plants, the feature has become practically ubiquitous in contemporary architecture; it is used predominantly in commercial buildings.
Word Tutor:
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atrium
IN BRIEF: A hall used to greet guests.
All the visitors gathered in the atrium.
LearnThatWord.com is a free vocabulary and spelling program where you only pay for results!
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or (formerly) auricle
(pl. atria)
(pl. atria)
- either of the two chambers of the heart that lie above the ventricles. They receive blood from the afferent veins and pump it into the ventricles.
- any of various anatomical chambers that receive the openings of other cavities.
| atriopeptins, atrioactivase, atrial | |
| atrolysin B, atrolysin C, atrolysin E |
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Pl. atria [L.] a chamber affording entrance, especially the chamber (atrium cordis) on either side of the heart, transmitting to the ventricle of the same side blood received (left atrium) from the pulmonary veins and (right atrium) from the venae cavae. See also atrial.
- parabronchi a. — extensions of the parabronchial lumen giving rise to the air capillaries.
- a. partitioning — partitioning of the atrium by the septum primum during embryological development may be defective leading to a congenital malformation, e.g. patent foramen ovale.
- ruminal a. — the first part of the rumen, and the cranial chamber of its dorsal sac, just caudal to the reticuloruminal fold. Called also atrium ruminis.
- ventricular a. — the shallow vault between the reticulum and the rumen into which the esophagus in the ruminant opens.
Random House Word Menu:
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categories related to 'atrium'
- Heart and Circulatory and Lymphatic Systems - atrium: auricle
- Entryways and Lateral Extensions - atrium: open court leading into building, often with a glassed side and roof
- Rooms - atrium: central hall, often with open roof, off which other rooms open (ancient Rome)
- Classical Elements and Design - atrium: open courtyard bordered by walkways
Wikipedia on Answers.com:
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Atrium
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Look up Atrium or atrium in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |
Atrium may refer to:
- Atrium (architecture), a large open space within a building usually with a glass roof
- Atrium (alveoli), microscopic air sacs in lungs
- Atrium (heart), an anatomical structure of the heart
- Atrium of the ventricular system of the brain
- Atrium (Cardiff), a University of Glamorgan (Wales) building in Cardiff
- atrium, the genital structure next to the genital aperture in the reproductive system of gastropods
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This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. |
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