foyer
nounCA, UK /ˈfɔɪ.eɪ/ · US /ˈfɔɪ.ɝ/
Etymology Borrowed from French foyer (“hearth, lobby”), in turn from Vulgar Latin *focārium, from Late Latin focārius, from Latin focus (“hearth”). Cognate with Spanish hogar (“home”).
› A lobby, corridor, anteroom, or waiting room.
1
Such a space used in a hotel, theater, etc.
- We had a drink in the foyer waiting for the play to start.
- Now it's big black cars and Riviera views / And your lover in the foyer doesn't even know you / And your secrets end up splashed on the news front page2012, Taylor Swift, “The Lucky One”, in Red (Taylor's Version), published 2021:
1 more example
- "He's been waiting to jump my brain-bones since I left R&E. I could feel him hammering on the door." She trotted to the nearest wall and knocked on it for emphasis. "But whatever it is that makes us remember the good old days, it also makes us impossible to possess now. That's why Willie and I both woke up, and why Noè never got taken out by Mukami. So all I had to do was open my mind up to the guy, invite him in, then... gas the foyer, as it were."2023 October 14, HarryBlank, “Face Time”, in SCP Foundation, archived from the original on 23 May 2024:
2
Such a space in a residence (house or apartment).
- Near-synonym: vestibule
3
The crucible or basin in a furnace which receives the molten metal.
4
UK A hostel offering accommodation and work opportunities to homeless young people.
- Derived terms
- foyered, foyerlike, lawyer foyer