room English · revision 3971

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 725, Beowulf (Old English rūm)|origins=ine-pro *reuə-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ruːm/, /rʊm/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|roum]], [[inh|ang|rūm|t=space, extent; opportunity]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(AHD 2000) from [[gem-pro|*rūman]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) a noun formed from the adjective [[m|gem-pro|*rūmaz|t=roomy, spacious]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(Klein 1966) which Etymonline and Watkins trace to [[ine-pro|*reuə-|t=to open; space]].^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2000) Its relatives include [[de|Raum|t=space]], [[nl|ruim|t=hold of a ship]] and [[non|rūm]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Klein 1966) and outside Germanic [[la|rūs|t=open country]], Avestan [[m|ae|ravah-|t=space]] and Old Irish [[m|sga|rōi|t=plain, field]].^(Etymonline)^(Klein 1966)^(MWU 2024) Klein relates [[rural]], [[rustic]] and [[rummage]].^(Klein 1966)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Space, extent, sufficient space: Old English ''rūm'', about 725, in ''Beowulf''.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Old English also had the adjective ''rūm'', “roomy, spacious”, which lasted in Scots.^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002) The noun meant “place, position” from the 14th century,^(Hoad 1986) the sense in the Bible's “sit not down in the highest room” (Luke 14:8), where the guests take places at one table, not separate rooms.^(Trench 1859) A ship's cabin or chamber is called a ''room'' from the early 14th century, and by the mid-15th century the word was applied to a part of a building divided off by walls,^(Etymonline) the sense the Word Origins dictionary dates to the 15th century^(Cresswell 2021) and the HTOED to 1438.^(HTOED) The Old English word for such a chamber had been [[m|ang|cofa]], the ancestor of ''cove''.^(Etymonline) ''Make room'' is from the mid-15th century, ''roomy'' from the 17th century, and the sense “the people in a room” from 1712.^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) The verb “to lodge, occupy a room” is recorded by 1809 according to Merriam-Webster^(MWU 2024) and by 1825 according to Etymonline.^(Etymonline) ''Room temperature'' is from 1879 and ''room service'' from 1913.^(Etymonline) ''A smoke-filled room'' goes back to a 1920s report on the choice of Warren Harding as Republican candidate.^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 725 – Old English ''rūm'', space (''Beowulf'').^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * early 14th century – a chamber on a ship.^(Etymonline)

+ * 14th century – place, position.^(Hoad 1986)

+ * 1438 – a chamber in a building.^(HTOED)

+ * mid-15th century – ''make room''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1712 – the people in a room.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1809 – verb, to lodge.^(MWU 2024)

+ * 1879 – ''room temperature''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1913 – ''room service''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Space that is or may be occupied.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # A part of a building divided off by walls or [[partition|alt=partitions]].^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # The people present in such a part.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # ''(plural)'' Living quarters; [[lodging|alt=lodgings]].^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # Opportunity or [[scope]]: ''room for improvement''.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # ''(chiefly North American)'' To occupy a room as a lodger; to share lodgings.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[roomed]]

+ * [[roomer]]

+ * [[roomie]]

+ * [[roomy]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[elbow room]]

+ * [[room and board]]

+ * [[room service]]

+ * [[rural]]

+ * [[rustic]]

+ * [[rummage]]

+ * [[cove]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The American Heritage Dictionary groups ''room'' with ''elbowroom'', ''latitude'', ''leeway'', ''margin'', ''play'' and ''scope'' as words for enough space or freedom to act.^(AHD)^(RHWU) A separate dialect word ''room'', “dandruff”, of unknown origin, is recorded from the late 16th century.^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}