cottage
Plural: cottages
Noun
- A small, modest house, typically in a rural area.
- a small house with a single story
- A small house.
- A seasonal home of any size or stature, a recreational home or a home in a remote location.
- A public lavatory.
- A meeting place for homosexual men.
Verb
- To stay at a seasonal home, to go cottaging.
- To have homosexual sex in a public lavatory; to practice cottaging.
Examples
- Most cottages in the area were larger and more elaborate than my home.
- The letters formed a cozy little cottage on the Scrabble board, a small but solid word.
Origin / Etymology
Late Middle English, from Anglo-Norman cotage and Medieval Latin cotagium, from Old Northern French cot, cote (“hut, cottage”) + -age (“surrounding property”), from Proto-Germanic *kutan, *kuta- (“shed”), probably of non-Indo-European origin, possibly borrowed from Uralic; compare Finnish kota (“hut, house”) and Hungarian ház (“house”), both from Proto-Finno-Ugric/Proto-Uralic *kota. However, also compare Dutch and English hut.
Old Northern French cote is probably from Old Norse kot (“hut”), cognate of Old English cot of same Proto-Germanic origin.
Slang sense “public toilet” from 19th century, due to resemblance.
Synonyms
bungalow, House of Lords, WC, bathroom, bog, bogger, brasco, can, carsey, cloaca, closet, closet of decency, closet of ease, cludgie, cot, cottage, crapper, dike, dunny, facilities, geography, gingerbread office, house of office, hut, jacks, jacques, jakes, john, johnny, karzy, khazi, kocay, ladies and gentlemen, latrine, lats, lav, lavabo, lavatory, lavvy, loo, necessarium, necessary, necessary place, necessary room, neddy, netty, office, office of ease, place, potty, privy, purging place, restroom, shield, shitter, siege, six, small room, smallest room, tea house, tea room, teahouse, tearoom, throne room, thunderbox, toilet, toilet room, urinal, urination station, usual offices, vault, wardrobe, washroom, water closet, withdraught
Scrabble Score: 10
cottage: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Wordcottage: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
cottage: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary