vestibule
/ˈvɛ.stɪ.bjuːl/US/ˈvɛ.stəˌbjul/
vestibule noun: a small entrance hall, antechamber, passage, or room between the outer door and the main hall, lobby, or interior of a building. Also the clipping of vulval vestibule.
Noun
vestibule (plural vestibules)
- A small entrance hall, antechamber, passage, or room between the outer door and the main hall, lobby, or interior of a building.
- Near-synonym: foyer
- Lydia's voice was heard in the vestibule; the door was thrown open, and she ran into the room.1813, Jane Austen, chapter 19, in Pride and Prejudice, volume 2
- Synonyms:
- foyer
- A large entrance hall in a temple or palace.
- An enclosed entrance at the end of a railway passenger car.
- The exit side of the front vestibule contains a sliding door.1912, Electric Railway Journal, volume XL, number 14, page 556
- The units have transverse seats, two and three astride the passageway with single or double longitudinal seats alongside the two entrance vestibules in each car.1960 November, “New electric multiple-units for British Railways: Glasgow Suburban”, in Trains Illustrated, page 660
- Any of a number of body cavities or channels, serving as or resembling an entrance to another bodily space.
- The membrane of the vestibule in this animal is thrown into three folds. The margins of these folds, looking towards the vestibule, are approximated, and, following the law which is now known to regulate the formation of hollow tubes, doubtless unite and coalesce in the next higher species of fish.1838, Joseph Garland, “Formation of the Ear”, in The Boston Medical and Surgical Journal, volume 17, page 333
- The Vestibule (vestibulum nasi). — The paired vestibule may be considered an antechamber to the nasal fossa.1920, Jacob Parsons Schaeffer, The Nose, Paranasal Sinuses, Nasolacrimal Passageways, and Olfactory Organ in Man: A Genetic, Developmental, and Anatomico-physiological Consideration, page 73
- The central cavity of the bony labyrinth of the inner ear or the parts (such as the saccule and utricle) of the membranous labyrinth that it contains.
- The part of the left ventricle below the aortic orifice.
- The part of the mouth outside the teeth and gums.
- The incision of the mucosa over the premaxilla is traced a millimetre or two from the furrow that marks the bottom of the barely-defined vestibule.2001, René Malek, Cleft Lip and Palate: Lesions, Pathophysiology and Primary Treatment, page 79
Verb
vestibule (third-person singular simple present vestibules, present participle vestibuling, simple past and past participle vestibuled)
- To furnish with a vestibule or vestibules.
- the vestibuled platform1892, Brander Matthews, In the Vestibule Limited
Also used as
vestibule is also the clipping of vulval vestibule.
vestibule meaning in Persian
vestibule in Persian
- body cavity
- دهلیز dahliz
Examples of vestibule in a sentence
- The purpose of the vestibule, at least in western Europe, was not to provide a resting-place for penitents, but to deaden the noise outside.1913, Beda Julius Kleinschmidt, “Vestibule”, in Catholic Encyclopedia:
- Some instinct warned Armitage that what was taking place was not a thing for unfortified eyes to see, so he brushed back the crowd with authority as he unlocked the vestibule door.1929 April, H. P. Lovecraft, “The Dunwich Horror/Chapter VI”, in Weird Tales:
Synonyms of vestibule
Forms of vestibule
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | vestibules |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | vestibules |
| present participle | vestibuling |
| past participle | vestibuled |
| past | vestibuled |
Origin of vestibule
Early 17th century, borrowed from French vestibule (“entrance court”), from Latin vestibulum (“forecourt, entrance court; entrance”), from vestiō (“to dress, clothe, vest”) + -bulum (“place, location”, nominal suffix). Doublet of vestibulum.
Words formed from vestibule
Phrases with vestibule
Questions about vestibule
- What does vestibule mean?
- Vestibule means a small entrance hall, antechamber, passage, or room between the outer door and the main hall, lobby, or interior of a building.
- What is vestibule in Persian?
- Vestibule in Persian is دهلیز (dahliz). See Vestibule meaning in Persian.
- How do you use vestibule in a sentence?
- The purpose of the vestibule, at least in western Europe, was not to provide a resting-place for penitents, but to deaden the noise outside.
- What part of speech is vestibule?
- Vestibule can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce vestibule?
- Vestibule is pronounced /ˈvɛ.stɪ.bjuːl/ (UK).
- What is the plural of vestibule?
- The plural of vestibule is vestibules.
Words near vestibule in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: vestibule (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-vestibule.wav.
Cite this entry: “vestibule.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/vestibule. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.