cottage

American  

[kot-ij] / ˈkɒt ɪdʒ /

noun

• cottages
  plural

1. a small house, usually of only one story.

2. a small, modest house at a lake, mountain resort, etc., owned or rented as a vacation home.

3. one of a group of small, separate houses, as for patients at a hospital, guests at a hotel, or students at a boarding school.

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cottage British  

/ ˈkɒtɪdʒ /

noun

1. a small simple house, esp in a rural area

2. a small house in the country or at a resort, used for holiday purposes

3. one of several housing units, as at a hospital, for accommodating people in groups

4. slang a public lavatory

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• cottaged
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• cottages
  plural

Etymology

Origin of cottage

1350–1400; Middle English cotage. See cot ², -age; compare Medieval Latin cotagium, apparently < Anglo-French

Explanation

A cottage is a small house, particularly a traditional or old-fashioned house, or one that is used seasonally. Your family might rent a cottage near the beach every summer. In the US, a cottage typically has only one story, while in Canada a house can be much larger and still be called a cottage. In the Middle Ages, a cottage was housing for farm workers — sometimes known as cottagers — and the word implied not just a home, but also a barn and land. The first US holiday cottages were built in the 1880s in Bar Harbor, Maine and are credited with introducing the word cottage to North America.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

cottage cottages

The court previously heard Dyson had been living in his car outside Wright's cottage on Sheffield Road in Hoyland, often helping him with various jobs like cutting hedges, mending tractors and driving him to appointments.

From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026

In the intervening years, however, a cottage industry of compounding pharmacies emerged, including Ro and Hims & Hers Health.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 5, 2026

A lucrative cottage industry has developed around this system.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026

She’s 25 and unemployed, and it’s unclear at first how she acquired the funds to splurge on an on-site cottage with a pool, 90-minute massages, and various forced-fun adventures.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 14, 2026

Leah, Maggie, Kate, and some female supporters crowded into the cottage, watching the men work and waiting for evidence of the peddler’s body.

From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock

Housing reforms that increase supply, such as allowing smaller lots in new subdivisions, permitting duplexes, townhomes, and backyard cottages on existing lots, and changing zoning laws to allow housing nearer to jobs, are land-use issues.

From Barron's ● Jun. 24, 2026

As well as the main building at Royal Lodge, there were another eight nearby properties, with Mountbatten-Windsor's lease allowing three of these cottages to be sub-let, which he did until April 2026.

From BBC ● Jun. 4, 2026

Traditional British architecture is characterized by the majesty of Elizabethan halls with their palatial glass, the elegance of Georgian townhouses and their sash windows or the charm of Tudor cottages with their trademark diamond casements.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 29, 2026

Becky Alderton, experience manager at Best of Suffolk, said a break away was very important for families - and with the conflict causing uncertainty, it was seeing an increase in demand for its cottages.

From BBC ● Apr. 18, 2026

Nestled in an undulating patchwork of beech forests, lakes, and clearings were 140 cottages, a shopping mall, a barbershop, a post office, a dentist’s office, a sauna, a hospital, training facilities, and dining halls.

From "Unbroken" by Laura Hillenbrand

Related Words

• bungalow
• cabin
• chalet
• home
• hut
• lean-to
• lodge
• ranch
• shack
• shanty