HYPOCAUST Definition & Meaning

hypocaust

[ hahy-puh-kawst, hip-uh- ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

a hollow space or system of channels in the floor or walls of some ancient Roman buildings that provided a central heating system by receiving and distributing the heat from a furnace.

hypocaust

/ ˈ��ɪ��əˌ��ɔː�� /

noun

an ancient Roman heating system in which hot air circulated under the floor and between double walls

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�y��vlog History and Origins

Origin of hypocaust¹

1670–80; < Latin hypocaustum < Greek ��ó�첹�ܲ��ٴǲ� room heated from below, equivalent to hypo- hypo- + �첹�ܲ��ó��, neuter of �첹�ܲ��ó�� (verbal adjective) heated, burned; caustic

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�y��vlog History and Origins

Origin of hypocaust¹

C17: from Latin hypocaustum, from Greek hupokauston room heated from below, from hupokaiein to light a fire beneath, from hypo- + kaiein to burn

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

The Romans developed the hypocaust method of heating floors and walls thousands of years ago.

From

Earlier excavations near Scalford, Leicestershire, found traces of a building with mosaics, wall plaster and a hypocaust heating system.

From

It has a well-preserved hypocaust, or apparatus for warming the house by hot air.

From

Hypocaust, hip′o-kawst, n. among the ancients, a vaulted chamber from which the heat of stoves was distributed to baths or rooms above: now applied to the fireplace of a stove or hothouse.

From

"He's a powerful and original thinker, and to involve myself in the hypocaust of his imagination is toxic for my own work."

From

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