anteroom

/ˈæntiˌrum/

Other forms: anterooms

An anteroom is a small room or entryway leading to a larger area. You might wait with a tour group in an anteroom before beginning your tour of a castle.

You can use the word anteroom as a fancy, old-fashioned way to say "waiting room" or "vestibule." Museum visitors might pause in an anteroom before entering a large gallery, and the butler in an old movie might say, "Please wait in the anteroom." Another word for an anteroom is an antechamber — in fact the French root of both is antichambre, from the Latin anticamera, "room in front."

Definitions of anteroom

1. noun

   a large entrance or reception room or area
   synonyms: antechamber, entrance hall, foyer, hall, lobby, vestibule

   types:

   narthex

   a vestibule leading to the nave of a church

   type of:

   room

   an area within a building enclosed by walls and floor and ceiling