- an institution for the promotion of literary or scientific learning.
- a library or reading room.
- a sanctuary of Athena at Athens, built by the Roman emperor Hadrian, and frequented by poets and scholars.
- an institution for the promotion of learning
- a building containing a reading room or library, esp one used by such an institution
- (in ancient Greece) a building sacred to the goddess Athena, esp the Athenian temple that served as a gathering place for the learned
- (in imperial Rome) the academy of learning established near the Forum in about 135 ad by Hadrian
