Impluvium
IMPLUVIUM, the Latin term for the sunk part .of the floor in the atrium of a Greek or Roman house, which was contrived to receive the water passing through the compluvium (q.v.) of the roof. The impluvium was generally in marble and sunk about a foot below the floor of the atrium.
Note - this article incorporates content from Encyclopaedia Britannica, Eleventh Edition, (1910-1911)
