front room

• frontroom, front-room

front room (plural front rooms)

2. A room near the entrance of a building.
   • 1880, Frances Hodgson Burnett, chapter 7, in Louisiana‎^[1]:

     She did not knock at the door, which stood open, but, somewhat to Fermi's amazement, walked at once into the front room, which was plainly the room of state.

   Synonym: foreroom (broad sense)

   Antonyms: backroom, back room

   2. Such a room that serves as an entryway, initial reception area, or waiting room.

      Synonyms: anteroom, antechamber

      Near-synonym: foyer

   4. (especially) A living room or similar room in such position that is used for entertaining guests or for special occasions.

      Synonym: foreroom (narrow sense)

      Antonyms: backroom, back room

      Coordinate terms: anteroom, antechamber; parlour, parlor, sitting room, drawing room; front porch

      • 1887, Arthur Conan Doyle, chapter 3, in A Study in Scarlet‎^[2]:

        He found the door open, and in the front room, which is bare of furniture, discovered the body of a gentleman, well dressed, and having cards in his pocket bearing the name of ‘Enoch J. Drebber, Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.A.‘

      • 1913, Theodore Roosevelt, chapter 1, in Theodore Roosevelt: An Autobiography‎^[3]:

        The front room, the parlor, seemed to us children to be a room of much splendor, but was open for general use only on Sunday evening or on rare occasions when there were parties.

      • 1942, Emily Carr, “Loyalty”, in The Book of Small, Toronto, Ont.: Oxford University Press, →OCLC:

        She had a whole floor of everlasting flowers spread to dry in her front room.