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

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Etymology

Origin of cottage

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

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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

Located about 30 minutes outside of Nashville, the retreat offers a fishing lake, one-bedroom cottage, and large barn for storage or entertaining.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 19, 2026

Located in the Belle Meade neighborhood, the charming stone cottage cost the singer a reported $1.5 million.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 19, 2026

The cottage has gas-powered convection heaters, but in an adjacent barn a stack of firewood will help to keep Olena warm in the event of power cuts.

From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2026

Today, a blue plaque on a cottage near the King's Arms pub marks the place where Hepburn lived between 1936 and 1939.

From BBC ● Oct. 4, 2026

It’s about two miles to my new home—a cottage with a thatched roof, surrounded by tall grass and gnarled apple trees.

From "The Bletchley Riddle" by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin

Around town, lined with winding streets and tan-colored stone cottages, locals speak highly of the American servicemen and women, even if their commander in chief gets negative reviews from some.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 28, 2026

In the seven years the charity has had the cottages, Eastman says just five people have returned to the streets.

From BBC ● Sep. 13, 2026

If you want to go luxe, you can eat or sleep at the Farmhouse Inn, a 6-acre property on River Road that includes 25 rooms and cottages, a pool and spa amid lushly landscaped grounds.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 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

He could see the small cottages, deep in shade, that dotted the wooded area.

From "Son" by Lois Lowry

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Related Words

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

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