noun

attic

AT-ik/ˈætɪk/

a room or space directly below a roof

A storage trunk sits beneath exposed rafters in the small attic.

A simple cutaway of a house's pitched roof reveals a small attic immediately beneath it, with exposed rafters, a wooden floor, a closed storage trunk, and an open floor hatch.

Etymology

The ancestor means “Athenian,” connecting the word to a classical architectural feature associated with Athens. The name passed from a decorative upper facade to the space it enclosed, giving the roof-space meaning.

In context

New York School of Interior Design22:26

little bit of repair, but otherwise it was in very good condition. It had a slate roof. We went to um repair the slate roof. We went up into the attic

Dialogues on Design: Ed Hollander & Andrew Oyen

More examples

Rainwater leaked into the attic during the storm.
The house has an unfinished attic beneath its steep roof.
Several neighborhood attics were converted into extra bedrooms.

Forms

attic · attics

Similar words

loft: Often means an open upper space rather than an enclosed room.
garret: Usually means a small, often cramped room directly beneath a roof.