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definitions

cubicle

[ kyoo-bi-kuh l ]
/ ˈkyu bɪ kəl /
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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR cubicle ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a small space or compartment partitioned off.
carrel(def 1).
a bedroom, especially one of a number of small ones in a divided dormitory, as in English public schools.

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RELATED WORDS

room, nook, cell, chamber, stall, booth, desk, pigeonhole, office, cubbyhole

Nearby words

  1. cubic measure,
  2. cubic zirconia,
  3. cubical,
  4. cubically,
  5. cubicity,
  6. cubiculum,
  7. cubiform,
  8. cubism,
  9. cubist,
  10. cubit

Origin of cubicle

1400–50; late Middle English < Latin cubiculum bedroom, equivalent to cub(āre) to lie down + -i- -i- + -culum -cle2
Can be confusedcubical cubicle
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for cubicle

British Dictionary definitions for cubicle

cubicle

/ (ˈkjuːbɪkəl) /

noun

a partially or totally enclosed section of a room, as in a dormitory
an indoor construction designed to house individual cattle while allowing them free access to silage

Word Origin for cubicle

C15: from Latin cubiculum, from cubāre to lie down, lie asleep
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for cubicle

cubicle

n.

mid-15c., "bedroom," from Latin cubiculum "bedroom," from cubare "to lie down," originally "bend oneself," from PIE root *keu(b)- "to bend, turn." With Latin -clom, suffix denoting place. Obsolete from 16c. but revived 19c. for "dormitory sleeping compartment," sense of "any partitioned space" (such as a library carrel or, later, office work station) is first recorded 1926.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper