cottage English · revision 10583

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=before 1272|origins=xno *cotage}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /ˈkɒt.ɪdʒ/, US /ˈkɑː.t̬ɪdʒ/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is borrowed through Anglo-French *cotage and directly from Old French cotage,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) from cote, a hut or cottage (see [[cot]] and [[cote]]), and the suffix [[-age]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) Cote is probably from Old Norse kot, hut, cognate with Old English cot.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) The OED takes the whole to have meant the entire property attached to a cote.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A small, humble dwelling, such as a farm labourer's: before 1272 in the OED,^(OED 1989) about 1390 in Barnhart, in Chaucer.^(Barnhart 1988) It first meant a house held by a peasant under the feudal system.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ A small country or suburban house without any suggestion of poverty is from 1765,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) and in the United States a summer residence, often large and luxurious, from 1882.^(OED 1989) In Australia a cottage is a one-storey house (1898).^(OED 1989) The slang sense, a public lavatory, is from 1909, later only in homosexual slang.^(OED 1989) ''Cottager'' is from 1555,^(Barnhart 1988) ''cottage cheese'' from 1831,^(Etymonline) and ''cottage industry'' from 1854.^(Etymonline) Modern French cottage is a 19th-century reborrowing from English.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 1272 – a humble dwelling.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1555 – cottager.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1765 – a small country house.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1831 – cottage cheese.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1854 – cottage industry.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1882 – a summer residence (US).^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A small, simple [[house]], especially in the country.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(US, Canada)'' A small holiday house in the country or at a resort.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(slang)'' A public lavatory.^(Collins 2023)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[cottagey]]

+ * [[cottaged]]

+ * [[cottager]]

+ * [[cottage cheese]]

+ * [[cottage industry]]

+ * [[cottage fries]]

+ * [[cottage pie]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[cot]]

+ * [[coterie]]

+ * [[cote]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}