dormitory
nounUK /ˈdɔː.mɪ.tɹi/ · US /ˈdɔɹ.mɪˌtɔɹ.i/
Etymology From Middle English dormitory, dormytory, dormytorye, borrowed from Latin dormītōrium (“a sleeping-room”), from dormiō (“to sleep”). Doublet of dormitorium and dorter.
1
A room containing a number of beds (and often some other furniture and/or utilities) for sleeping, often applied to student and backpacker accommodation of this kind.
- She will be much more likely to meet his wishes after a residence at the castle, than an imprisonment on short commons in her dormitory in Welbeck Street; for in one case she only learnt how much she could endure, in the other she will find how much she can enjoy.1842, [anonymous collaborator of Letitia Elizabeth Landon], “(please specify the page)”, in Lady Anne Granard; or, Keeping up Appearances. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, pages 150–151:
- The foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova was responding to a report last week about an item in the 2024 US air force budget for building a dormitory at RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk for personnel on a “potential surety mission” – military jargon for nuclear safety and security.2023 September 5, Julian Borger, Andrew Roth, “Return of US nuclear weapons to UK would be an escalation, says Russia”, in The Guardian, →ISSN, archived from the original on 30 Apr 2024:
2
A building or part of a building which houses students, soldiers, monks etc. who sleep there and use communal further facilities.
3
A dormitory town.
- Synonyms
- dorm, dormitorium, dorter
- Derived terms
- dormantory, dormcest, dormitorywide, dormobile, interdormitory, nondormitory
- Coordinate terms
- barracks