roommate English · revision 39578

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=compound|attested=1789, W. Dunlap, The Father}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * US: /ˈɹu(m)ˌmeɪt/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ A compound of [[room]] and [[mate]] (a companion),^(Etymonline)^(OED 2026)^(Dictionary.com 2016) formed in American English;^(Etymonline)^(Dictionary.com 2016) it is also written with a hyphen or as separate words.^(Etymonline)^(Macquarie 2013) The short form [[roomie]] is recorded by 1918.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A person who shares a room with another: 1789, in William Dunlap's play ''The Father'', printed in the Massachusetts Magazine.^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline) Merriam-Webster gives an earlier first date, 1770,^(MWU 2024) and Dictionary.com dates the word to 1780–90.^(Dictionary.com 2016)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The OED defines a ''roommate'' as someone who occupies the same room, flat or house as another,^(OED 2026) and the Historical Thesaurus files it among the words for lodgers in someone else's house.^(HTOED) British dictionaries keep the first sense for sharing a single room, as in a college residence,^(LDOCE 2009)^(Penguin 2007) and label the wider sense, sharing an apartment or house, as North American;^(LDOCE 2009)^(Penguin 2007)^(Chambers 2014) the British equivalent is ''flatmate''.^(LDOCE 2009) The Macquarie Dictionary likewise marks the house-sharing sense as chiefly American.^(Macquarie 2013) The World Book Dictionary records an informal use for a person who lives with a partner without being married.^(World Book 2015)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1770 – first known use, according to Merriam-Webster.^(MWU 2024)

+ * 1789 – a person who shares a room;^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline) 1780–90 in Dictionary.com.^(Dictionary.com 2016)

+ * 1918 – the short form ''roomie''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A person who shares a [[room]], especially a bedroom in a college or hostel, with another: ''My roommate in the first year was a chemistry student.''^(LDOCE 2009)^(MWU 2024)^(Collins 2023)

+ # (chiefly North American) A person who shares an [[apartment]] or house with another; a [[flatmate]].^(LDOCE 2009)^(Penguin 2007)^(Macquarie 2013)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[roomer]]

+ * [[rooming house]]

+ * [[flatmate]]

+ * [[comrade]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}