antechamber

[ an-tee-cheym-ber ]

/ ˈæn tiˌtʃeɪm bər /

a chamber or room that serves as a waiting room and entrance to a larger room or an apartment; anteroom.

Origin of antechamber

1650–60; earlier antichamber < French antichambre, as translation of Italian anticamera, equivalent to anti- (< Latin ante- ante-) + camera chamber

Once inside the school cafeteria, which served as an antechamber, each candidate had his own booth.

The Bizarro World Of Iowa’s GOP Convention |Ben Jacobs |June 23, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
The cupboard was in an antechamber which served as the public passage by which the apartments of Madame were reached.

The Memoirs of Louis XIV., His Court and The Regency, Complete |Duc de Saint-Simon
We got first into an antechamber, and then into a large room, where a great row was going on.

Diary of the Besieged Resident in Paris |Henry Labouchre
No sooner had I appeared in the antechamber than I was ushered into the presence of the secretary.

Sir Jasper Carew |Charles James Lever

"Bethink you also that this world is but the antechamber of the next," said the prelate.

Sir Nigel |Arthur Conan Doyle
The term parvise, though used in somewhat different senses by old writers, appears to mean strictly a porch or antechamber.

Notes and Queries, Number 191, June 25, 1853 |Various

antechamber

/ (ˈæntɪˌtʃeɪmbə) /

another name for anteroom

C17: from Old French, from Italian anticamera; see ante-, chamber