>>>>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.
>>
>>From the latin rotundus = round.
>>
>>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.
>>
>>Rotund is an interesting variation, usually referring to someone's shape, and is a "nice" substitution for "fat," as in:
>>
>>The rotund gentleman's belly indicated that he had eaten too much jelly.
>>
>>or
>>
>>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)

ROFLMAO!