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vault1

Syllabification: (vault)
Pronunciation: /vôlt/
Translate vault | into French | into German | into Italian | into Spanish
Definition of vault

noun

  • 1a roof in the form of an arch or a series of arches, typical of churches and other large, formal buildings.
  • literary a thing resembling an arched roof, especially the sky:the vault of heaven
  • Anatomy the arched roof of a cavity, especially that of the skull:the cranial vault
  • 2a large room or chamber used for storage, especially an underground one.
  • a secure room in a bank in which valuables are stored.
  • a chamber beneath a church or in a graveyard used for burials.

verb

[with object] (usually as adjective vaulted)
  • provide (a building or room) with an arched roof or roofs:a vaulted arcade
  • make (a roof) in the form of a vault:there was a high ceiling, vaulted with cut slate

Origin:

Middle English: from Old French voute, based on Latin volvere 'to roll'

vault in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of vault in the British & World English dictionary