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definitions

maisonette

or mai·son·nette

[mey-zuh-net]
noun
  1. a small house, especially one connected to a large apartment building.
  2. an apartment, usually of two floors connected by an internal staircase; duplex apartment.

Origin of maisonette

1810–20; < French, Old French, equivalent to maison house (see mansion) + -ette -ette
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
British Dictionary definitions for maisonette

maisonette

maisonnette

noun
  1. self-contained living accommodation often occupying two floors of a larger house and having its own outside entrance

Word Origin for maisonette

C19: from French, diminutive of maison house
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for maisonette
n.

1818, "small house," from French maisonnette, diminutive of maison "house" (11c.), from Latin mansionem (see mansion). Meaning "a part of a building let separately" is from 1912.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper