abode
1 Americannoun
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a place in which a person resides; residence; dwelling; habitation; home.
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an extended stay in a place; sojourn.
verb
noun
verb
Etymology
Origin of abode
1200–50; Middle English abood a waiting, delay, stay; akin to abide
Explanation
Your abode is where you live. The Queen of England's abode may be far from humble, but it's the home where she rests her weary crown at the end of each day. Though it is often humble, as in, "Welcome to our humble abode," an abode is just a formal way of describing your home. A British solicitor (lawyer) would also use the word abode to describe his office, and if he worked from his home the word would cover both his work and his residence. Interestingly, if you were to substitute the o in the middle of the word for a c, you'd have the first five letters of the alphabet — abcde.
Vocabulary lists containing abode
There's No Word Like Home
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Refugee
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This Week in Words: August 6 - 10, 2018
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Around the time Williams picked up her Beverly Hills abode, she was ready to bid goodbye to her home in the Bel-Air neighborhood.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 8, 2026
Inside the sparse, upscale abode, cardboard moving boxes are still scattered across the entryway, and his shelves lack ingredients.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 4, 2026
Matt Styler, 50, of no fixed abode from Gosport, has been charged with assault by beating of an emergency worker.
From BBC • Jun. 4, 2026
Canadian actress Malin Akerman and her husband, Jack Donnelly, have brought their longtime L.A. hideaway to the market for $2.99 million—more than 15 years after purchasing the “idyllic” abode.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 29, 2026
They seemed to be carved out of huge blocks of stone, immovable, and yet they were aware: some dreadful spirit of evil vigilance abode in them.
From "The Return of the King" by J.R.R. Tolkien
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
