cottage

American  

[kot-ij] / ˈkɒt ɪdʒ /

noun

• cottages
  plural

1. a small house, usually of only one story.

2. a small, modest house at a lake, mountain resort, etc., owned or rented as a vacation home.

3. one of a group of small, separate houses, as for patients at a hospital, guests at a hotel, or students at a boarding school.

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cottage British  

/ ˈkɒtɪdʒ /

noun

1. a small simple house, esp in a rural area

2. a small house in the country or at a resort, used for holiday purposes

3. one of several housing units, as at a hospital, for accommodating people in groups

4. slang a public lavatory

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• cottaged
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• cottages
  plural

Etymology

Origin of cottage

1350–1400; Middle English cotage. See cot ², -age; compare Medieval Latin cotagium, apparently < Anglo-French

Explanation

A cottage is a small house, particularly a traditional or old-fashioned house, or one that is used seasonally. Your family might rent a cottage near the beach every summer. In the US, a cottage typically has only one story, while in Canada a house can be much larger and still be called a cottage. In the Middle Ages, a cottage was housing for farm workers — sometimes known as cottagers — and the word implied not just a home, but also a barn and land. The first US holiday cottages were built in the 1880s in Bar Harbor, Maine and are credited with introducing the word cottage to North America.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

cottage cottages

For me, this is often cottage cheese ranch or a punchy vinaigrette — mostly because Future Me is considerably more enthusiastic about eating vegetables when there is something good to drag them through.

From Salon ● Sep. 22, 2026

And the leaks forged a cottage industry of investigations, conspiracies—and digital media content.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 7, 2026

Mundhe has enforced bans on using newspapers to wrap food, synthetic dyes and banned analogue paneer - non-dairy cottage cheese substitutes.

From BBC ● Sep. 7, 2026

The job had been especially valuable because it included the use of a cottage.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 7, 2026

As a rule, wandering souls were never able to cross the threshold into Clare’s cottage unless they were invited.

From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman

Tom Brumfitt, who lives in one of the small row of cottages by the side of the road, said he heard "loud bangs" as he lay in bed when the collision happened.

From BBC ● Sep. 8, 2026

Seizing the opportunity to turn Scotland's notoriously unreliable summer weather into a positive, the couple have begun marketing their cottages as coolcation destinations.

From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026

But there is another, lesser-known retreat tucked away along the state’s shoreline—one where Victorian-era cottages dot tree-lined streets, and a summer calendar is packed with activities for adults and children.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026

Housing reforms that increase supply, such as allowing smaller lots in new subdivisions, permitting duplexes, townhomes, and backyard cottages on existing lots, and changing zoning laws to allow housing nearer to jobs, are land-use issues.

From Barron's ● Jun. 24, 2026

These were the cottages in which the servants lived, and where the blacksmith, tinsmith, and tanner plied their trades.

From "The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: Book I: The Mysterious Howling" by Maryrose Wood

Related Words

• bungalow
• cabin
• chalet
• home
• hut
• lean-to
• lodge
• ranch
• shack
• shanty