n. 1. A story or room directly below the roof of a building, especially a house. 2. A low wall or story above the cornice of a classical façade. [From Attic story, story of a building enclosed by one decorative structure placed above another, much taller decorative structure, usually involving the Attic order, an architectural order having square columns of any of the basic five orders, from French attique, from attique, Attic, from Latin Atticus; see ATTIC.] |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.