vomitorium

/vɒmɪˈtɔːɹɪəm/

//vɒmɪˈtɔːɹɪəm// noun

"vomitorium" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“vomitorium” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
10
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A passage located behind a tier of seats in an amphitheatre used as an exit for the crowds

Corpus desk

Index EN-vomitorium · vomitorium · English

vomitorium · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 10 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "V" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Key facts for vomitorium
PropertyValue
Headwordvomitorium
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/vɒmɪˈtɔːɹɪəm/
Letters10
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “vomitorium” in English

vomitoriumranks outside the top 100,000 English headwords, in the long tail of specialist, archaic, or seldom-used vocabulary, exactly the territory where a reader stops mid-sentence to double-check spelling.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

vomitorium is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /vɒmɪˈtɔːɹɪəm/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

vomitorium has no tracked misspelling variants, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Latin vomitōrium (“entrance to an amphitheatre”), substantive of vomitōrius (“emetic, provoking vomiting”), from vomō (“vomit”). The correct English form is vomitorium, spelled V-O-M-I-T-O-R-I-U-M.

Definition

  1. 1
    A passage located behind a tier of seats in an amphitheatre used as an exit for the crowds
  2. 2
    An area in which vomiting takes place, in particular a chamber supposedly used by ancient Romans to vomit during a feast so they could continue eating.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how vomitorium appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. 1822, John Taaffe, A Comment on the Divine Comedy of Dante Alighieri, John Murray, page 161, […] the way that the greatest width of the interior of the Flavian amphitheatre would be ascertained, if a line were drawn from one of the vomitoria of the west side, in the uppermost story, to the eastern vomitorium, precisely facing it.
  2. 1844, F. Buxton Whalley, "Excursions from Rome in June 1843", in Leonhard Schmitz (Ed.), The Classical Museum, page 330, In the tunnel to the right and left as one enters there is a passage which contains a flight of steps conducting to a "vomitorium," situated in the second "præcinctio;" […]

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin vomitōrium (“entrance to an amphitheatre”), substantive of vomitōrius (“emetic, provoking vomiting”), from vomō (“vomit”).

Synonyms

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "vomitorium"?
"vomitorium" is spelled V-O-M-I-T-O-R-I-U-M. The IPA pronunciation is /vɒmɪˈtɔːɹɪəm/.
What does "vomitorium" mean?
As a noun, "vomitorium" means: A passage located behind a tier of seats in an amphitheatre used as an exit for the crowds
How do you pronounce "vomitorium"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "vomitorium" is /vɒmɪˈtɔːɹɪəm/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "vomitorium"?
Borrowed from Latin vomitōrium (“entrance to an amphitheatre”), substantive of vomitōrius (“emetic, provoking vomiting”), from vomō (“vomit”). See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list