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attic Attic Attica

Main Entry: at·tic
Pronunciation: at-ik
Function: noun
Etymology: from French attique "attic," from attique (an adjective) "of Attica," from Latin Atticus "of Attica"
: a room or a space just below the roof of a building
Word History In ancient Greece the region around Athens was known as Attica, and many of the buildings in Attica had a special feature of a second wall that extended above the top of the main wall or row of columns supporting the roof. When builders in Europe later copied this feature of Attica's buildings, their buildings were said to be in the style of Attica, or the Attic style. Eventually, the word attic came to be used as a noun to refer to this upper wall and later to a room behind the wall under the roof. Today we refer to any room just underneath the roof as the attic, even when the building is not in the style of those in ancient Attica.