LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
noun · neutersecond declension

ātrium

ātrium n (genitive ātriī or ātrī)
Classical[ˈaː.tri.ũː]Ecclesiastical[ˈaː.tri.um]
Mille Verba core vocabulary

Meaning

  1. a welcoming room in a Roman villa; reception hall, main court
    It clāmor ad altā / ātria An outcry goes up to the height of the [palace] halls. (Translations vary – Mackail, 1885: “the high halls”; Knight, 1956: “the palace-roof”; Fitzgerald, 1981: “the high chambers”; West, 1990: “the high walls of the palace”; Ahl, 2007: “high through the courtyard’s open roof”; Ruden, 2021: “to the rooftop”.)29 BCE – 19 BCE, Vergilius, Aeneis 4.665–666
  2. a hall, court in a temple

Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers

prīma et maxima pars domūs Rōmānae; in mediō ātriō impluvium est, et super id tēctum apertum.
ātrium -ī n — in Mille Verba, Domus et Familia
prīma et maxima pars domūs
ātrium -ī (n) — in Metamorphoses I, ch. 2, 21

Declension

declension
formsingularplural
nominativeātriumātria
genitiveātriī
ātrī		ātriōrum
dativeātriōātriīs
accusativeātriumātria
ablativeātriōātriīs
vocativeātriumātria

ātrĭum, ii, n. acc. to Scaliger, from αἴθριον, subdiale, since it was a part of the uncovered portion of the house (but the atrium of the Romans was always covered); acc. to Varr. L. L. 5, § 161 Müll., from the Tuscan town Atria, where this style of architecture originated; cf. Paul. ex Fest. p. 13 Müll.; and Müller, Etrusk. 1, p. 254 sq.; but better from ater, acc. to the explanation of Servius: ibi etiam culina erat, unde et atrium dictum est; atrum enim erat ex fumo, ad Verg. A. 1, 730.
I. The fore-court, hall, entrance-room, entry; that part of the Roman house into which one first came after passing the entrance (janua); cf. Vitr. 6, 4; O. Müller, Archaeol. III. § 293, and Etrusk. above cited. In earlier times, the atrium was used as a dining-room, Cato ap. Serv. ad Verg. A. 1, 726. Here stood, opposite the door, the lectus genialis, Hor. Ep. 1, 1, 87; here sat the housewife with her maidens spinning, Arn. adv. Gent. 2, 67; here clients were in attendance, Hor. Ep. 1, 5, 31; Juv. 7, 7 and 91; and here hung the family portraits and other paintings, Plin. 34, 8, 19, § 55; Mart. 2, 90; Val. Max. 5, 8, 3; Vulg. Matt. 26, 58; ib. Marc. 14, 54; ib. Joan. 18, 15 al.—Poet. in the plur., of a single atrium: Apparet domus intus et atria longa patescunt, Verg. A. 2, 483; so Ov. M. 14, 260; Juv. 8, 20 al.—Meton. for the house itself: nec capient Phrygias atria nostra nurus, Ov. H. 16, 184; id. M. 13, 968.—So of the entrance-room in the dwelling of the gods: dextrā laevāque deorum Atria nobilium (as it were clients, v. supra) valvis celebrantur apertis, Ov. M. 1, 172; Stat. Th. 1, 197.—
II. In temples and other public buildings there was often an atrium, a hall, court: in atrio Libertatis, Cic. Mil. 22, 59; Liv. 25, 7; 45, 15; Tac. H. 1, 31; Suet. Aug. 29: Vestae, Plin. Ep. 7, 19, 2; also called atrium regium, Liv. 26, 27; cf. Ov. F. 6, 263; id. Tr. 3, 1, 30: atrium tabernaculi, Vulg. Exod. 27, 9; ib. Lev. 6, 26: in atriis Domūs Dei, ib. Psa. 91, 14; 134, 2; Smith, Dict. Antiq.—So atrium auctionarium, an auction-hall, auction-room, Cic. Agr. 1, 3; so Inscr. Orell. 3439; and absol., atria: cum desertis Aganippes Vallibus esuriens migraret in atria Clio, Juv. 7, 7. Such halls were the Atria Licinia, Cic. Quinct. 6, 25: ATRIVM SVTORIVM, the shoemakers' hall, a place in Rome, Calend. Praenest. Inscr. Orell. II. 386.

Origins

* Either from Ancient Greek αἴθριον (aíthrion, “under the sky, open”) (see αἰθήρ (aithḗr, “clear sky, heaven”)), * or related to Latin āter, Umbrian 𐌀𐌕𐌓𐌖 (atru), Oscan 𐌀𐌀𐌃𐌝𐌓𐌉𐌉𐌔 (aadíriis), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eh₁tr-yom, * or from Etruscan 𐌀𐌈𐌓𐌄 (aθre, “atrium, temple, house, domus”). Related to Etruscan 𐌀𐌕𐌓𐌉𐌖𐌌 (atrium).

Borrowed
  • Catalanatri
  • Englishatrium
  • Italianatrio
  • Portugueseátrio
  • Romanianatriu
  • Spanishatrio
  • Galicianatrio
  • Hungarianátrium
  • Irishaitriam
Inherited
  • Frenchaîtrefrom Old French aitre
  • Portugueseadro
  • Normanaistrefrom Old French aitre
  • Asturianadriu
  • Asturianadral
  • Galicianadro

In the Academy Smith's classical dictionaries

AntiquitiesAtriumAtrium is used in a distinctive as well as collective sense, to designate a particular part in the private houses of the Romans [DOMUS], and also a cl…

Quick answers

What does ātrium mean in Latin?
ātrium, a noun, means “a welcoming room in a Roman villa; reception hall, main court; a hall, court in a temple”.
What is the genitive of ātrium?
The genitive singular is ātriī. ātrium is neuter, second declension.
How do you pronounce ātrium?
In classical Latin, [ˈaː.tri.ũː]; in ecclesiastical (church) Latin, [ˈaː.tri.um].