dormitory

American  

[dawr-mi-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee] / ˈdɔr mɪˌtɔr i, -ˌtoʊr i /

noun

• dormitories
  plural

1. a building, as at a college, containing a number of private or semiprivate rooms for residents, usually along with common bathroom facilities and recreation areas.

2. a room containing a number of beds and serving as communal sleeping quarters, as in an institution, fraternity house, or passenger ship.

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dormitory British  

/ ˈdɔːmɪtərɪ, -trɪ /

noun

1. a large room, esp at a school or institution, containing several beds

2. a building, esp at a college or camp, providing living and sleeping accommodation

3. (modifier) denoting or relating to an area from which most of the residents commute to work (esp in the phrase dormitory suburb )

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• dormitories
  plural

Etymology

Origin of dormitory

1475–85; < Latin dormītōrium bedroom, equivalent to dormī ( re ) to sleep + -tōrium -tory ²

Explanation

A dormitory is a building at a boarding school, college, or university where students live. Many students have roommates in a dormitory, and sometimes those roommates put up really cheesy posters of shirtless guys leaning on cars. The word dormitory is from the Latin dormitorium for "sleeping place," and if you keep going back you get to dormire for "to sleep." A dormitory is where students who live at school sleep — well, it’s where their beds are anyway. Often the first time kids sleep away at school is when they go to college. There are often different dorms for freshman and older students. Dormitories are also called dorms, residence halls, and student residences.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

dormitory dormitories

In 2008 the school borrowed $20 million to build a new dormitory and improve sports facilities.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026

Detainees in his dormitory submitted a grievance about commissary prices, Parada Calderon said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 1, 2026

The 28 May fire tore through the upper floor of a dormitory containing 135 bunk beds and housing 202 students, forcing them to flee through a single doorway after the emergency exit failed to open.

From BBC ● Jun. 24, 2026

As night fell, forensic investigations continued as white body bags were brought out and lined up outside the dormitory, an AFP journalist saw.

From Barron's ● May 28, 2026

The other children in the dormitory had been asleep for hours.

From "The BFG" by Roald Dahl

Eleven people were arrested on site -— four Poles and seven Ukrainians -- caught in bed around 6:00am local time in makeshift dormitories set up near the machinery.

From Barron's ● Sep. 9, 2026

One chimpanzee, Yvan, eventually picked up the crystal and deliberately carried it back to the dormitories.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 15, 2026

Education Minister Julius Ogamba said preliminary findings indicated that there had been multiple breaches of safety measures at Utumishi Girls' School, including overcrowding in dormitories and a locked exit door.

From BBC ● Jun. 24, 2026

Two Moroccan women chose to be deported from Cameroon to their home country, leaving 15 migrants spending their days inside dormitories, some in tears, according to lawyers and local activists.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 20, 2026

My mind is spinning as I’m led by two agents back to the youth dormitories.

From "Amari and the Night Brothers" by B.B. Alston

Related Words

• bedroom
• dorm
• dorm room