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

A small hedge on one side of the cottage currently separates it from Hogan’s mansion, while palm trees line the other exterior wall.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 9, 2026

While the facade of the building has changed from a cottage to a chalet in the past 200 years, its origins have a fascinating history.

From BBC • Apr. 7, 2026

"Yes, I do worry a bit, especially because there's now a whole cottage industry of companies that try to make a big buck and make it even simpler to install OpenClaw," he said.

From Barron's • Mar. 30, 2026

The Brookmans’ holiday home goes from being a pretty cottage to a “ghastly pile” to “the sort of grim, four-square, red-brick Victorian house you could imagine Roderick Usher living in.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 20, 2026

It was afternoon when we reached my cottage.

From "Rump: The (Fairly) True Story of Rumpelstilskin" by Liesl Shurtliff

Related Words

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