Athenaeum Ath Uh Nee Um Noun Library Reading Room Literary Scientific

noun

1. A library or reading room.

2. A literary or scientific club.

[From Latin Athenaeum, from Greek Athenaion, a temple of Athena, the goddess of wisdom.]

"Whole wings of libraries could be built around the literature of loss ... The Summer After June, Ashley Warlick's second novel, belongs in that vast annex of the athenaeum reserved solely for stories of mourning." - Chris Bohjalian; Starting Over; The Washington Post; Apr 2, 2000.