Word
rotunda
Phoneticsro·tun·da
US/ɹoʊˈtəndə/
UK/ɹˈɒtʌndɐ/
Definition
n. a large, round room with a dome on top. You often find these in big buildings like museums or government offices.
n. a large, circular room or hall, typically crowned by a dome. Often used in the context of public or institutional architecture.
Examples
“The museum's rotunda is decorated with beautiful marble.”
“Visitors gather in the central rotunda to admire the massive chandelier hanging from the glass ceiling.”
“The architect designed the library's rotunda to serve as a grand entrance, ensuring that the circular space would provide a sense of scale and importance to the building's visitors.”
Examples
simple
“The museum's rotunda is decorated with beautiful marble.”
contextual
“Visitors gather in the central rotunda to admire the massive chandelier hanging from the glass ceiling.”
complex
“The architect designed the library's rotunda to serve as a grand entrance, ensuring that the circular space would provide a sense of scale and importance to the building's visitors.”
Real-World Examples
“It’s a big deal, the first monographic exhibition by a photography-based artist in the iconic spiral rotunda, and the largest debut of new work ever staged at the museum.” Etymology
Learned borrowing from Latin rotunda, from rotundus (“round”). In the architectural sense, from Sancta Maria Rotunda (the name for a church in the Pantheon).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Domain
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/rotunda