dormitory

American  

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

noun

plural

dormitories

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.

---

dormitory British  

/ -trɪ, ˈdɔːmɪtərɪ /

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 )

---

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

In 1999, plainclothes police raided a student dormitory following a demonstration, triggering days of mass protests.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 1, 2026

Lam Thanh, 50, who manages a dormitory for workers near one of Ho Chi Minh City's estimated 1,000 courts, says the cacophony is proving to be costly.

From Barron's • Dec. 28, 2025

There was a two-story parking garage where patrons could have their limousines serviced as well as casitas to rent for the season and a dormitory for working women above the shops.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 9, 2025

The Boston Symphony Orchestra had acquired the property a few years earlier, turning the main house into dormitory housing for student musicians at Tanglewood, its prestigious summer music academy, with an affiliated festival.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 28, 2025

It was late, and when we pulled up behind the dormitory I asked him if he wanted to come to Commons and have some dinner.

From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt

Related Words

• bedroom
• dorm
• dorm room