Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A story or room directly below the roof of a building, especially a house.
  • noun A low wall or story above the cornice of a classical façade.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The upper portion of the tympanic cavity of the ear.
  • noun Figuratively, a man's ‘top story’; the skull
  • noun In architecture, a low story surmounting an entablature or the main cornice of a building. Also called attic story.
  • noun A room in the uppermost part of a house, immediately beneath the roof or leads; a garret.
  • Pertaining to Attica, or to the city or state of Athens; Athenian; marked by such qualities as were characteristic of the Athenians.
  • noun A native or an inhabitant of Attica, the territory of the ancient Athenian state, now an eparchy of the kingdom of Greece; an Athenian.
  • noun The Attic dialect; Attic Greek.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A low story above the main order or orders of a facade, in the classical styles; -- a term introduced in the 17th century. Hence
  • noun A room or rooms behind that part of the exterior; all the rooms immediately below the roof.
  • noun An Athenian; an Athenian author.
  • adjective Of or pertaining to Attica, in Greece, or to Athens, its principal city; marked by such qualities as were characteristic of the Athenians; classical; refined.
  • adjective (Arch.) a peculiar form of molded base for a column or pilaster, described by Vitruvius, applied under the Roman Empire to the Ionic and Corinthian and “Roman Doric” orders, and imitated by the architects of the Renaissance.
  • adjective inviolable faith.
  • adjective special purity of language.
  • adjective a poignant, delicate wit, peculiar to the Athenians.
  • adjective See Attic, n.
  • adjective a style pure and elegant.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun The space, often unfinished and with sloped walls, directly below the roof in the uppermost part of a house or other building, generally used for storage or habitation.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun the dialect of Ancient Greek spoken and written in Attica and Athens and Ionia
  • noun informal terms for a human head
  • noun floor consisting of open space at the top of a house just below roof; often used for storage
  • noun (architecture) a low wall at the top of the entablature; hides the roof
  • adjective of or relating to Attica or its inhabitants or to the dialect spoken in Athens in classical times

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[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.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From the practice of decorating the top storey of building façades in the Attic architectural style.

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Examples

  • Dacian captives on the attic (_attic_ = a species of subordinate story added above the main cornice) of this arch were a fortunate addition, furnishing a _raison-d’être_ for the columns and broken entablatures on which they rest.

    A Text-Book of the History of Architecture Seventh Edition, revised 1890

  • Her face shone brightly, as if the word attic was “ice cream.”

    The Bird House Kelly Simmons 2011

  • Her face shone brightly, as if the word attic was “ice cream.”

    The Bird House Kelly Simmons 2011

  • On the other hand, a disconnected furnace vent in the attic is a SERIOUS defect that could cause a ridiculous amount of damage over a period of just one heating season.

    Should Real Estate Agents Attend The Home Inspection? | Reuben's Home Inspection Blog 2009

  • On the other hand, a disconnected furnace vent in the attic is a SERIOUS defect that could cause a ridiculous amount of damage over a period of just one heating season.

    The Buyer Should Be There | Reuben's Home Inspection Blog 2009

  • On the other hand, a disconnected furnace vent in the attic is a SERIOUS defect that could cause a ridiculous amount of damage over a period of just one heating season.

    2009 August 11 | Reuben's Home Inspection Blog 2009

  • On the other hand, a disconnected furnace vent in the attic is a SERIOUS defect that could cause a ridiculous amount of damage over a period of just one heating season.

    Reuben's Home Inspection Blog 2009

  • On the other hand, a disconnected furnace vent in the attic is a SERIOUS defect that could cause a ridiculous amount of damage over a period of just one heating season.

    2009 August | Reuben's Home Inspection Blog 2009

  • Of the various things you mentioned, the attic is a likely source of heat loss.

    ouch 2005

  • The twins caught some of our enthusiasm, and they stopped howling and fighting and biting when we mentioned the word attic.

    Flowers in the Attic V.C. Andrews 1979

Comments

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  • Weirdnet: the head of a human being?

    February 24, 2009

  • Maybe when people refer to "the ol' attic" meaning their brain...? Still creepy.

    February 24, 2009

  • Exactly. Possibly somewhat accurate. ;-)

    February 25, 2009