house
Meanings
- A structure built or serving as an abode of human beings.
- An apartment building within a public housing estate.
- A container; a thing which houses another.
- Size and quality of residential accommodations; housing.
- A building intended to contain a single household, as opposed to an apartment or condominium or building containing these.
- The people who live in a house; a household.
- A building used for something other than a residence (typically with qualifying word).
- A place of business; a company or organisation, especially a printing press, a publishing company, or a couturier.
- A place of public accommodation or entertainment, especially a public house, an inn, a restaurant, a theatre, or a casino; or the management thereof.
- A workhouse.
- The audience for a live theatrical or similar performance.
- A building where a deliberative assembly meets; whence the assembly itself, particularly a component of a legislature.
- To keep within a structure or container.
- To admit to residence; to harbor.
- To take shelter or lodging; to abide; to lodge.
- To dwell within one of the twelve astrological houses.
- To contain or cover mechanical parts.
- To contain one part of an object for the purpose of locating the whole.
- To drive to a shelter.
- To deposit and cover, as in the grave.
- To stow in a safe place; to take down and make safe.
- To eat; especially, to scarf down.
- House music.
- A particular chamber of political representation
- Ellipsis of House of Representatives.
- Ellipsis of House of Commons.
- Ellipsis of House of Parliament.
- More generally, a shortened name for any chamber of a legislature that is named "House of...", especially where the other chamber(s) are not so named, or where there is no other chamber (unicameral).
- A placename:
- A village in Quay County, New Mexico, United States.
- An unincorporated community in Pitt County, North Carolina, United States.
- A topographic surname from Middle English for someone residing in a house (as opposed to a hut) or in a religious house.
- Christ Church, Oxford.
Pronunciation
Word forms
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *(s)kewH-der.? Proto-Germanic *hūsą Proto-West Germanic *hūs Old English hūs Middle English hous English house From Middle English hous, hus, from Old English hūs (“dwelling, shelter, house”), from Proto-West Germanic *hūs, from Proto-Germanic *hūsą (“house”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kews-, from *(s)kewH- (“to cover, hide”). More at hose. Eclipsed non-native Middle English mees, meson, measoun (“house”), borrowed from Anglo-Norman mes, mies, meis, maisun (“house”). The uncommon plural form housen is from Middle English husen, housen. (The Old English nominative plural was simply hūs.) Cognates Cognate with Scots hoose, oos (“house”), Yola heouse, houze, howze (“house”), North Frisian hüs (“house”), Saterland Frisian Huus, Húus (“house”), West Frisian hûs (“house”), Alemannic German hous, hus, husch, hüs, hüüsch (“house”), Bavarian, Cimbrian, Mòcheno haus (“house”), Central Franconian Haus, Hous, Huus (“home”), Dutch huis (“house”), Dutch Low Saxon hoes, huus (“house”), German Haus, Hauß (“house”), German Low German Huus (“house”), Limburgish hoes, Huus (“house”), Luxembourgish Haus (“house”), Vilamovian haojs, haus, hoüz (“house”), Yiddish הויז (hoyz, “house”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, and Norwegian Nynorsk hus (“house”), Elfdalian aus (“house”), Faroese and Icelandic hús (“house”), Swedish hus, hws (“house”), Crimean Gothic hus (“house”); also Cornish kudha (“to conceal, hide”), Welsh cuddio (“to hide”), Latin cutis (“human skin; hide, leather”), Ancient Greek κεύθω (keúthō, “to cover, hide”), Tocharian A kāc (“hide, skin”), Sanskrit स्कुनाति (skunāti, “to cover”).