cottage

American  

[kot-ij] / ˈkɒt ɪdʒ /

noun

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

• cottaged adjective

Etymology

Origin of cottage

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

Example Sentences

I grew up in San Jose, Calif., in a dark gray 1920s English-style cottage with a red front door.

From The Wall Street Journal

Workers lived in the town’s redwood cottages and paid rent to their employer.

From Los Angeles Times

Alongside a steady diet of cottage cheese and salsa, the weight came off relatively quickly.

From Salon

The blaze has completely destroyed the house, causing the roof and stairs of the stone cottage to collapse.

From BBC

It comes complete with its own beach and private cottage.

From MarketWatch

Related Words

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