cellar
n. countablen. a room below the ground level of a house, usually used for storing things like food, wine, or coal. It is often cooler than the rest of the building.
n. an underground room or set of rooms, typically situated beneath a building and used for storage purposes. Often associated with the preservation of wine or provisions due to its naturally stable, cool temperature.
We keep our extra garden tools in the cellar.
The old farmhouse has a damp cellar that the family uses to store potatoes and onions through the winter.
The sommelier descended into the limestone cellar to retrieve a vintage that had been aging in near-perfect darkness for over two decades.
From Middle English celer, seler, from Anglo-Norman celer, Old French celier (modern cellier), from Late Latin cellārium, from Latin cella. Doublet of cellarium.
From 15th century English saler, from French salière, from Latin salarius (“relating to salt”), from Latin sal (“salt”).
Often used interchangeably with 'basement', though 'cellar' specifically implies a storage function rather than a living space.