ENGLISH
REFERENCE

vault

n. countable
B2 Upper Intermediate US //ˈvɔɫt// UK //vˈɒlt// vault Archaic Humorous

n. a strong room or a safe used to keep money and valuable things protected. It can also mean a large room under a building, like a church, where people are buried.

n. a secure room or compartment designed for the storage of valuables, typically found in banks; alternatively, an arched underground chamber used for burial or storage.


SIMPLE

The bank keeps all the gold bars in a massive steel vault.

CONTEXTUAL

The museum stores its most fragile artifacts in a climate-controlled vault deep beneath the main gallery.

COMPLEX

Archaeologists discovered a hidden vault beneath the cathedral floor, containing several ornate stone coffins and a collection of religious relics from the fourteenth century.

Synonyms
Etymology 1

From Middle English vaute, vowte, from Old French volte (modern voûte), from Vulgar Latin volta < volvita or *volŭta, a regularization of Latin volūta (compare modern volute (“spire”)), the past participle of volvere (“roll, turn”). Cognate with Spanish vuelta (“turn”) and Portuguese volta ("turn"). Doublet of volute.

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Middle French volter (“to turn or spin around; to frolic”), borrowed from Italian voltare, itself from a Vulgar Latin frequentative form of Latin volvere; later assimilated to Etymology 1, above.

Usage

Often used with 'in' or 'into' to describe the location of stored items.

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