dormitory

[dawr-mi-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee]

noun

plural

dormitories 

1. a building, as at a college, containing a number of private or semiprivate rooms for residents, usually along with common bathroom facilities and recreation areas.

2. a room containing a number of beds and serving as communal sleeping quarters, as in an institution, fraternity house, or passenger ship.

dormitory

/ -trɪ, ˈdɔːmɪtərɪ /

noun

1. a large room, esp at a school or institution, containing several beds

2. a building, esp at a college or camp, providing living and sleeping accommodation

3. (modifier) denoting or relating to an area from which most of the residents commute to work (esp in the phrase dormitory suburb )

Word History and Origins

Origin of dormitory¹

1475–85; < Latin dormītōrium bedroom, equivalent to dormī ( re ) to sleep + -tōrium -tory ²

Word History and Origins

Origin of dormitory¹

C15: from Latin dormītōrium, from dormīre to sleep

Example Sentences

The trade, she recalls, left "beaded girls in the dormitories and bare-horned cows in the meadows".

From BBC

The outlets in his dormitory were inoperable, and because of the overcrowding and short-staffing, guards couldn’t take him to another area to plug them in, said his fiancee, Mildred Pierre.

From Los Angeles Times

Sat on a bed in one of the dormitories is Habiba.

From BBC

At one point, he was the only first-team footballer living in the dormitory, despite the club offering him an apartment.

From BBC

Other structures, including what appear to be expansions to worker dormitories, remain under construction.

From BBC

Related Words

• bedroom 
• dorm 
• dorm room www.thesaurus.com