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

Example Sentences

We’d been working again for an hour—or sitting at our benches, no one could work —when the order came to return to dormitories.

From Literature

There, they will receive their kit and dormitory assignments.

From BBC

I stood there mulling this over outside the girls’ dormitory while I waited for Regan.

From Literature

On her visit, Mahmood also inspected dormitory accommodation for new arrivals to Denmark at a reception centre in a rural location, 16 miles from the Danish capital.

From BBC

At a dormitory there in her freshman year she discovered luxury: a bed of her own.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• bedroom
• dorm
• dorm room