A library, reading room, or literary institution; also, a school or place of learning (often capitalized when referring to a specific institution named after Athena).
From Latin Athenaeum, derived from Greek Athenaion, referring to a temple of Athena in ancient Rome. The term became generalized to mean any scholarly institution or library.
Historic athenaeums like the Boston Athenaeum were where curious people gathered before public libraries existed—they charged membership fees and functioned as exclusive intellectual clubs for the wealthy and scholarly.
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