Meanings
plural foyers
- A lobby, corridor, anteroom, or waiting room.
- Such a space used in a hotel, theater, etc.
We had a drink in the foyer waiting for the play to start.
2 more examples
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 page
2012, Taylor Swift, “The Lucky One”, in Red (Taylor's Version), published 2021"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 2024Synonyms: entrance hall
- UKA hostel offering accommodation and work opportunities to homeless young people.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounSuch a space used in a hotel, theater, etc.
nounSuch a space in a residence (house or apartment).
More synonyms by meaning
nouna large entrance or reception room or area
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinfocus“hearth”
- Late Latinfocārius
- Vulgar Latin*focārium
- Frenchfoyer“hearth, lobby”
- Englishfoyer
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”).
More words from French, Vulgar Latin, Late Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans ingangsportaal, foyer
- ingangsportaallobby, corridor, or waiting room
- foyerlobby, corridor, or waiting room
Arabic بَهْو
- بَهْو (bahw)lobby, corridor, or waiting room
Bulgarian фоайе́
- фоайе́ (foajé)lobby, corridor, or waiting room
Chinese Mandarin 門廳 /门厅, 休息室
- 門廳 /门厅 (méntīng)lobby, corridor, or waiting room
- 休息室 (xiūxishì)lobby, corridor, or waiting room
Czech foyer
- foyerlobby, corridor, or waiting room
Danish foyer
- foyerlobby, corridor, or waiting room
Dutch foyer
- foyerlobby, corridor, or waiting room
Finnish aula, lämpiö
- aulalobby, corridor, or waiting room
- lämpiölobby, corridor, or waiting room
French foyer
- foyerlobby, corridor, or waiting room
German Foyer
- Foyerlobby, corridor, or waiting room
Greek φουαγιέ
- φουαγιέ (fouagié)lobby, corridor, or waiting room
Hebrew פואייה /פוּאָיֶה, מְבוֹאָה
- פואייה /פוּאָיֶה (fuayé)lobby, corridor, or waiting room
- מְבוֹאָה (m'vo'á)lobby, corridor, or waiting room
Hungarian előcsarnok, előtér
- előcsarnoklobby, corridor, or waiting room
- előtérlobby, corridor, or waiting room
- halllobby, corridor, or waiting room
- társalgólobby, corridor, or waiting room
Icelandic anddyri, forsalur
- anddyrilobby, corridor, or waiting room
- forsalurlobby, corridor, or waiting room
- forstofalobby, corridor, or waiting room
- fordyrilobby, corridor, or waiting room
- forbyrgilobby, corridor, or waiting room
Indonesian foyer
- foyerlobby, corridor, or waiting room
Irish forhalla
- forhallalobby, corridor, or waiting room
Italian ridotto, foyer
- ridottolobby, corridor, or waiting room
- foyerlobby, corridor, or waiting room
Japanese 玄関
- 玄関 (genkan)lobby, corridor, or waiting room
Māori roro, tomokanga
- rorolobby, corridor, or waiting room
- tomokangalobby, corridor, or waiting room
Norwegian Bokmål foajé, foaje
- foajélobby, corridor, or waiting room
- foajelobby, corridor, or waiting room
Polish foyer
- foyerlobby, corridor, or waiting room
Portuguese saguão
- saguãolobby, corridor, or waiting room
Russian фойе́
- фойе́ (fojjé)lobby, corridor, or waiting room
Slovak foyer
- foyerlobby, corridor, or waiting room
Spanish zaguán, foyer
- zaguánlobby, corridor, or waiting room
- foyerlobby, corridor, or waiting room
- vestíbulolobby, corridor, or waiting room
Swedish foajé, entré
- foajélobby, corridor, or waiting room
- entrélobby, corridor, or waiting room
Tagalog ulutan
- ulutanlobby, corridor, or waiting room
Turkish fuaye
- fuayelobby, corridor, or waiting room
Ukrainian фойє́, фоє
- фойє́ (fojjé)lobby, corridor, or waiting room
- фоє (foje)lobby, corridor, or waiting room
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with foyer
All rhymes →Cite this entry
foyer. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/foyer
“foyer.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/foyer. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “foyer,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/foyer.
Source: foyer on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.