The Anteroom

My husband often refers to our TV room / den as the "Anteroom"...

In a silly voice, he will say "Would you like to retire to the anteroom to drink our coffee and watch some news this morning?"

and everytime he uses the word anteroom, I say "What is an anteroom, anyway?"

Well, Ladies and Gents, today is the day I did my google search!

Merriam Webster says:
Definition of ANTEROOM: an outer room that leads to another room and this is often used as a waiting room
First Known Use of ANTEROOM: 1762
Rhymes with ANTEROOM: Baby Boom, Banquet Room, Birthing Room, Boiler Room, City Room, Coffee Room, Common Room, Counting Room, Cutting Room, Elbow Room...

My thoughts:
1) There are multiple doors in our 'anteroom' that lead to different parts of the house, although I would not consider it an 'outer room'...
2) Who in the world took the time to come up with a bunch of different types of rooms that rhyme with anteroom... I mean really?

I decided to dig some more... and http://www.wisegeek.com/ came up with this:

An anteroom is an outer room which connects with the interior of a structure. The defining feature of an anteroom is that it has at least one door which connects with the outside, and another door which leads into a room which is not in contact with the outside. In many cases, anterooms connect to several interior rooms, but they are not classified as hallways, because they are functional rooms, rather than elongated passages.

You may also hear an anteroom referred to as an antechamber, a waiting room, or a vestibule. The anteroom has a venerable history in architecture, with such rooms being common in Ancient Greece and Rome, India, and China, especially in temples. In temples, the anteroom held petitioners while they waited for audiences with priests or religious icons, and often space was provided to make offerings to the temple, for those who felt so inclined. In private homes, anterooms isolated the dwellers from the noise and odors of the street, and provided a space for visitors to wait while residents prepared themselves.

Because anterooms span the distance between inside and outside, they often have a very transitional feel. In a no-shoes household, for example, people may be encouraged to take their shoes off in the anteroom, and there may be a space to hang up coats and store bags. In cold climates, an anteroom can be quite useful, as it insulates the warm inner rooms of a house from the cold outside.

My thoughts:
1) Our den connects to the garage, none of the 4 doors in the room leads outside... not an anteroom
2) Our den leads to 2 hallways, a garage, and a laundry room... and is very functional... and is not an elongated passage... definitely an anteroom
3) Functionally, isolating a dweller from outside noise and providing a waiting area for visitors... definitely an anteroom
4) a transitional feel... this room lacks... mostly because you take one look at the beautiful sectional recently delivered from my new fav furniture store, and you want to stay forever ;) ... anteroom not so much
5) taking your shoes off... not a great idea in my house lest you step on dog food, drool or cover your socks in dog hair... anteroom not so much

I can make the case either way...

This is cool though: http://www.rodehall.co.uk/ante-room-and-library

Oh and when I did the Google Image search, it was clear these days an anteroom can be anything you want it to be... so decalre we officially have an anteroom :)