housing English · revision 3066

+ English has two words spelled ''housing'': houses and shelter, from [[house]], and an ornamental covering for a horse, from Old French houce.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈhaʊ.zɪŋ/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ {{homograph|1|dwellings}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=before 1300|origins=en house}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The dwellings sense is [[inh|enm|housinge]], earlier husing,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) formed from [[house]] and [[-ing]], partly as a noun of action from the verb housen “to house”.^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Shelter, house accommodation, lodging: before 1300 in the OED,^(OED 1989) the early 14th century in Etymonline,^(Etymonline) and before 1325 in ''Cursor Mundi'' in Barnhart.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Houses or buildings collectively are from about 1400,^(OED 1989) and a single house or building from 1399.^(OED 1989) In architecture, a canopied niche for a statue is from 1463.^(OED 1989) The action of housing, putting into a house, is from 1377.^(OED 1989) A case or enclosure for a machine or part is recorded by 1882,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) and Barnhart thinks this sense may have merged with the horse covering.^(Barnhart 1988) The provision of homes as public policy, as in ''housing estate'', is a modern use.^(AHD)^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 1300 – shelter, lodging.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1377 – the act of housing.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1399 – a house or building.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1463 – a niche for a statue.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1882 – a case for a machine.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Houses and flats considered collectively.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # The provision of places to live.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A frame, case or box enclosing a machine or part.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A groove cut in a piece of wood to receive another part.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ {{homograph|2|horse covering}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1400|origins=frk *hulfti}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The covering is an extension of earlier [[inh|enm|houce]], house,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) [[bor|fro|houce|t=mantle, horse blanket]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(NODE 1998) from [[la-med|hultia|t=protective covering]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[frk|*hulfti]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) from [[ine-pro|*kel-|t=to cover, conceal]].^(Etymonline) It is cognate with Middle Dutch hulfte “quiver” and Middle High German hulft “covering”.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) The modern French word is housse.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Middle English houce, a covering for a horse's back and flanks, from 1312–13^(Barnhart 1988) (about 1300 in Etymonline).^(Etymonline) ''Housing'', a covering, especially of cloth, is from about 1400.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ A cloth covering put on a horse for protection or ornament is from 1645,^(OED 1989) and the singular ''housing'' of a horse's covering is in John Adams's diary in 1782, in American English.^(Barnhart 1988) The plural ''housings'' is often used for horse trappings.^(OED 1989)^(AHD)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1312–13 – houce, a horse covering.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1400 – a covering.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1645 – a horse cloth.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1782 – the singular, in John Adams.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # An ornamental or protective covering for a horse or its [[saddle]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # ''housings'': the trappings of a horse.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[house]]

+ * [[hull]]

+ * [[hell]]

+ * [[hall]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ In the dialects of northern England and Cheshire ''housing'' also meant a set of buildings, especially those of a farm.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}