An attic is the story in a non-flat roof of a building. Thus it has oblique walls and a height varying from place to place, and near the sides not high enough to stand.

It may be primitive to live in, also because of small windows, and is often just used for storage. However, it is often upgraded with larger windows, etc., and then may be used for living.

The term is also used to indicate the higher apartment in a building, usually when it has a terrace.

The terms loft, garret, roof space and mansard are synonymous.

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Attic (always capitalised) is also an adjective for something or someone coming from Attica or Athens - for instance, the Attic dialect of the Greek language, which was the literary language of ancient Greece. The term derives from the Greek attikos, from Attikē or Attica.

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In classical architecture, the term attic refers to a storey or low wall above the cornice of a classical façade. This usage originated in the 17th century from the use of Attic-style pilasters as adornments on the top storey's façade. The decoration of the topmost part of a building was particularly important in ancient Greek architecture and this came to be seen as typifying the Attic style. By the 18th century this meaning had been transferred to the space behind the wall of the highest storey (i.e. directly under the roof), producing the modern meaning of the word "attic".