cabin

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈkæbɪn/^[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English caban, cabane, borrowed from Old French cabane (“hut, cottage”),^[2][3][4] from Old Occitan cabana, from Late Latin capanna (“hut”), cavanna,^[3][2][5] a word of uncertain origin.^[2][3] The spelling cabin appeared about 1598 and was established in the 1600s.^[2][6] It is a doublet of cabana.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A hut: 1346 in Barnhart;^[2] a cell, as of a hermit, 1362 in the OED.^[7]

Semantic evolution

A room or compartment in a ship is from the 14th century (1382 in the OED),^[7][6][3] and a dwelling of rough construction from about 1440.^[7] A natural cave or a beast's den (1377) and a small bedroom (1594) are obsolete senses,^[7] and the political cabinet briefly in the 17th century.^[6] The enclosed space of an aircraft or spacecraft is a later extension.^[8][9] Cabin fever was a name for typhus in the 1820s, and the need to get out and about by 1918.^[3] French cabine and Italian cabino are borrowed from English.^[3]

Timeline

• 1346 – a hut.^[2]
• 1382 – a ship's cabin.^[7]
• c. 1440 – a rough dwelling.^[7]
• c. 1598 – spelling cabin.^[2]
• 1918 – cabin fever, restlessness.^[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A small, roughly built house; a hut.
2. A room in a ship used as living quarters.
3. The enclosed space in an aircraft for passengers or crew.

Verb

1. To confine in a small space.

Word family

• cabinet
• cabinmate
• cabin boy
• cabin attendant
• cabin cruiser
• cabin car
• cabin fever
• cabin hook

Related words

• cabana

Usage notes

In general English dialect use the EDD records cabin for a small hut or shelter used by workmen.^[10]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
9. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)