housemate

Etymology

It is formed from English house + mate.^[2][3][4] The OED compares Middle Dutch huusghenoot (now huisgenoot), Middle Low German hūsgenōt and German Hausgenosse, from Old High German hūsginōz and Middle High German hūsgenōz, which in early use had figurative or specialized senses such as close friend and fellow vassal.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A person who lives in the same house as another: 1593, in a letter printed in John Strype's Brief Annals of the Church and State.^[2][5] Etymonline dates the word to the 1680s,^[3] and Dictionary.com to 1800–10.^[4]

Semantic evolution

The meaning has stayed close to the parts of the compound, though in later use it has come to mean especially one of several tenants sharing a house; it can also be figurative.^[2] Collins defines a housemate as someone outside one's family with whom one shares a house.^[6]

Timeline

• 1593 – a person who lives in the same house as another.^[2][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A person who shares a house with another, especially a fellow tenant who is not a relative: She found a housemate through a student noticeboard.^[6][5][2]

Related words

• house
• mate

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
5. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins