suite

American  

[sweet, soot] / swit, sut /

noun

1. a number of things forming a series or set.

2. a connected series of rooms to be used together.

   a hotel suite.

3. a set of furniture, especially a set comprising the basic furniture necessary for one room.

   a bedroom suite.

4. a company of followers or attendants; a train or retinue.

5. Music.

   1. an ordered series of instrumental dances, in the same or related keys, commonly preceded by a prelude.

   2. an ordered series of instrumental movements of any character.

6. Computers. a group of software programs sold as a unit and usually designed to work together.

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suite British  

/ swiːt /

noun

1. a series of items intended to be used together; set

2. a number of connected rooms in a hotel forming one living unit

   the presidential suite

3. a matching set of furniture, esp of two armchairs and a settee

4. a number of attendants or followers

5. music

   1. an instrumental composition consisting of several movements in the same key based on or derived from dance rhythms, esp in the baroque period

   2. an instrumental composition in several movements less closely connected than a sonata

   3. a piece of music containing movements based on or extracted from music already used in an opera, ballet, play, etc

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suite Cultural  

1. A group of related pieces of music or movements played in sequence. In the baroque era, a suite was a succession of different kinds of dances. In more recent times, suites have contained excerpts from longer works, such as ballets, or have simply portrayed a scene, as in Ferde Grofé's Grand Canyon Suite.

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Etymology

Origin of suite

1665–75; < French, apparently metathetic variant of Old French siute ( suit ); akin to sue, suitor

Explanation

A suite (sounds like "sweet") is a collection of matching things. It usually refers to rooms together, like when you get a suite at a fancy hotel. It can also be a set of furniture or a musical composition. In housing terms, a suite is an apartment made up of connected rooms. If you ever stay at a hostel in France, make sure you get a room with the bathroom en suite, so you don’t have to share the one in the hallway. When the word first came into use, it meant "train of followers of attendants," but don't call your friends your suite or they'll think you're a snob.

Example Sentences

Created in response to the failure of a 1998 referendum to legalize abortion in her native Portugal, Rego’s suite offers harrowing views of women who have undergone the procedure illegally.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 10, 2026

“Our expectation is that there will likely be another refresh of the Neo,” says Ryan Reith, group vice president for IDC’s Worldwide Device Tracker suite.

From Barron's • Apr. 10, 2026

Who would have thought a suite of songs that cover being annoyed at TV chef Jamie Oliver and some rich Tesla driver moving into an old flame’s flat would be so comprehensively devastating?

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 9, 2026

Joel Negin, a professor of public health at the University of Sydney, said Australia's measures in 1996 largely worked because they were part of a broad suite of measures implemented "very quickly" after the massacre.

From BBC • Apr. 3, 2026

Another door was cut into one of the walls, so this must be part of a suite, possibly a grand one.

From "Secrets at Sea" by Richard Peck

Related Words

• apartment
• collection
• lodging
• rental