VESTIBULE

(Lat.vcstibulum.) In Architecture, an area before the entrance of the Roman houses; said by 1292 VESTRY. some to have been so called because an altar to Vesta was placed therein. It was surrounded by a wall, and was the place in which the master of the house received his clients. It is used in modern architecture to signify an ante-hall, lobby, or porch. [s. 1305]