garret

¹ American  

[gar-it] / ˈgær ɪt /

noun

Masonry.

1. gallet.

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garret ² American  

[gar-it] / ˈgær ɪt /

noun

1. an attic, usually a small, wretched one.

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garret British  

/ ˈɡærɪt /

noun

1. another word for attic

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Other Word Forms

• garreted adjective

Etymology

Origin of garret¹

First recorded in 1835–45; of uncertain origin

Origin of garret¹

1300–50; Middle English garite watchtower < Old French garite, guerite watchtower, derivative of garir, guarir to defend, protect; garrison

Example Sentences

They are ready to remake the world from their cold-water garret.

From Los Angeles Times

“How about my garret? It’s a bit downtrodden to be sure, but well off the beaten path.”

From Literature

Anything and everything you wanted to know about Bloomsbury, its predecessors and its casualties — with obligatory forays into the Riviera and Parisian garrets.

From New York Times

In central Paris, a thousand vulnerable people living in top-floor, garret apartments died because the city’s famous heat-absorbing zinc roofs turned their uninsulated homes into ovens.

From Los Angeles Times

A triangle conjures up the narrow garret in which Harriet Jacobs, the author of “Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl,” hid for seven years to avoid capture.

From New York Times