Both Uses of
atrium
in
All the Light We Cannot See
- A slender wooden jetty arcs out from a beach called the Plage du Mole; a delicate, reticulated atrium vaults over the seafood market; minute benches, the smallest no larger than apple seeds, dot the tiny public squares.†
p. 5.4 *
- Before he goes to bed, Volkheimer descends three flights of stairs to the atrium to check his mail.†
p. 498.8
Definitions:
-
(1)
(atrium as in: atrium of the building) a large public room leading to other rooms--often skylit and containing plants and/or water features
or in ancient architecture:
a roofless area of a building--such as the center of a Roman house or an entry courtyard surrounded by roofed columns in an ancient Christian church -
(2)
(atrium as in: right atrium of the heart) chamber from which blood enters the heart
-
(3)
(meaning too rare to warrant focus) meaning too rare to warrant focus:
Much less commonly, atrium can refer to anatomical structures other than the heart.