>>>Rotonda is, AFAIK, the Italian for the original building. The name has become a sort of generic name for any similar building, including the one Jefferson built in Charlottesville - which is also spelled with an U.
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>From the latin rotundus = round.
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>Rotunda can refer to a round building, usually with a dome, or to a round room. The church I attended as a child had a large, round room (with no dome) that was called the rotunda.
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>Rotund is an interesting variation, usually referring to someone's shape, and is a "nice" substitution for "fat," as in:
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>The rotund gentleman's belly indicated that he had eaten too much jelly.
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>or
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>My dear, I just love your pleasant rotundity. (just hope she doesn't have a dictionary nearby with which to hit you).

From an old radio play called "Rinse The Blood Off My Toga" (ALERT, George Tasker, ALERT !!):

BRUTUS: It's the greatest crime in the history of Rome!
FLAVIUS MAXIMUS: All right, give it to me straight. What happened?
BRUTUS: Julius Caesar has been murdered.
FLAVIUS MAXIMUS: Big Julie is dead?
BRUTUS: He was killed just 20 minutes ago. It happened in the Senate.
FLAVIUS MAXIMUS: Right in the senate?
BRUTUS: Yeah, they got him right in the rotunda.
FLAVIUS MAXIMUS: Wow, that's a painful spot -- I had a splinter there once.

(ducking)