lodger
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of lodger
1250–1300; Middle English loger tent-dweller. See lodge, -er 1
Explanation
A lodger is a person who rents a room in someone's house. If you rent out a room in your house, guess what? You'll have a lodger living with you. As opposed to a renter, who rents an entire apartment or house, a lodger generally leases only a bedroom, sharing the use of the kitchen and bathroom with the house's other inhabitants. You could also call a lodger a "roomer" or a "boarder." Lodger comes from lodge, "small house," from the Old French loge, "hut or cabin."
Vocabulary lists containing lodger
Habibi
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Ripped Away
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
I’d take out a 15-year mortgage and get a lodger.
From MarketWatch • Jul. 7, 2026
Under California civil code, if this man has lived in your friend’s with her permission and pays no rent, he may still be considered a lodger or “tenant at will,” which gives him legal protections.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 30, 2026
Recognizing her as a fellow lodger, Sellers sent his valet to knock on her door.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 13, 2026
“If it was a house, I’d be a lodger or a tenant or whatever you call it in America,” he laughs.
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 19, 2024
The temporary lodger, in his turn, stood and bowed to them, then returned to his pack of wooden oddments, sorting, arranging and polishing.
From "Stardust" by Neil Gaiman
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
