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

Landreth has a two-bedroom cottage, detached garage and back patio.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 5, 2026

One slightly stranger favorite is ground beef mixed with minced mushrooms and a little mushroom gravy powder, which can become an excellent head start on stew, meatballs, meatloaf or cottage pie.

From Salon ● Aug. 25, 2026

Vegetarian food influencers demonstrate non-meat ways to increase protein in everyday meals with Greek yogurt, beans and cottage cheese.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 22, 2026

Esther and Nick Cochrane who run a self-catering holiday cottage business called Beside the Loch have noticed the uptick in visitors who say they have come here for lower more bearable temperatures.

From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026

And every year Clare played the part of the helpless victim, cowering in his cottage.

From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman

Built into the undulating terrain are brick homes, shingled cottages and a longstanding dive bar.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026

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

The first report into royal residences for 20 years has revealed that Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor received rental income from sub-letting three cottages on the Royal Lodge estate.

From BBC ● Jun. 5, 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

Harry could make out the point where the cottages ended and the lane turned into open country again.

From "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J.K. Rowling

Related Words

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