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attic

 [at-ik]   Example Sentences Origin

at·tic

   [at-ik]
noun
1.
the part of a building, especially of a house, directly under a roof; garret.
2.
a room or rooms in an attic.
3.
a low story or decorative wall above an entablature or the main cornice of a building.
4.
Anatomy. the upper part of the tympanic cavity of the ear.
Origin:
1690–1700; special use of Attic

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Attic is always a great word to know.
So is nerve root. Does it mean:
a nerve fiber bundle that emerges from of the spinal cord and joins with another bundle to form each spinal nerve in the series of spinal nerves
the outer, nonvascular, nonsensitive layer of the skin, covering the true skin or corium
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Example Sentences
  • They find the old family home, with a fresh swastika painted on it, and return to the attic itself.
  • The attic was covered in pigeon feces and mites and pigeons were getting stuck and dying inside the walls of the house.
  • No only that, but she's raving mad and in the attic.
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Dictionary.com Unabridged

At·tic

   [at-ik]
adjective
1.
of, pertaining to, or characteristic of Greece or of Athens.
2.
(often lowercase) displaying simple elegance, incisive intelligence, and delicate wit.
noun
3.
the dialect of ancient Attica that became the standard language of Classical Greek literature in the 5th and 4th centuries b.c.
Origin:
1555–65; < Latin Atticus < Greek Attikós

Related forms
non-At·tic, adjective, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source Link To attic
Collins
World English Dictionary
attic (ˈætɪk)
 
—n
1.  a space or room within the roof of a house
2.  architect a storey or low wall above the cornice of a classical façade
 
[C18: special use of Attic from the use of Attic-style pilasters to adorn the façade of the top storey]

Attic (ˈætɪk)
 
—adj
1.  of or relating to Attica, its inhabitants, or the dialect of Greek spoken there, esp in classical times
2.  (often not capital) classically elegant, simple, or pure: an Attic style
 
—n
3.  Aeolic Arcadic Doric See also Ionic the dialect of Ancient Greek spoken and written in Athens: the chief literary dialect of classical Greek

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

Attic
1590s, "pertaining to Attica," from L. Atticus, from Gk. Attikos "of Attica," the region around Athens (see Attica). Attested from 1560s as an architectural term for a type of column base.
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attic
"top storey under the roof of a house," 1855, shortened from attic storey (1724). The term Attic order in classical architecture meant a small, square decorative column of the type often used in a low storey above a building's main facade, a feature associated with the region around Athens (see
Attic). The word then was applied to "a low decorative facade above the main story of a building" (1690s), and it came to mean the space enclosed by such a structure. The modern use is via Fr. attique. "An attic is upright, a garret is in a sloping roof" [Weekley].
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Medical Dictionary

attic at·tic (āt'ĭk)
n.
The upper portion of the tympanic cavity above the tympanic membrane that contains the head of the malleus and the body of the incus. Also called epitympanum.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Slang Dictionary

attic definition


  1. n.
    the head, thought of as the location of one's intellect. : She's just got nothing in the attic. That's what's wrong with her.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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