Definition of "athenaeum" []

• An institution, such as a literary club or scientific academy, for the promotion of learning. (noun)
• A place, such as a library, where printed materials are available for reading. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "The guerrilla athenaeum, which appeared this spring at the intersection of Leonard and Withers streets in Williamsburg, has clapboard siding and sits on a hand truck chained to a one-way street sign—a clever skirting of city regulation by its founder, 31-year-old artist Colin McMullan ."
• "He tried to instill Arts & Letters Daily with the atmosphere of a Victorian reading room or an athenaeum — a place for reading and thinking, free from distractions."
• "I know this athenaeum well, I esteem and have affection for the students who study there: On several occasions every year many of them come to meet me in the Vatican, together with their colleagues from other universities."