room

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See also rõõm, rom, Rom, and ROM

Contents

English [edit]

Pronunciation [edit]

Etymology 1 [edit]

From Middle English roum, rom, rum, from Old English rūm (“roomy, spacious, ample, extensive, large, open, unencumbered, unoccupied, temporal, long, extended, great, liberal, unrestricted, unfettered, clear, loose, free from conditions, free from occupation, not restrained within due limits, lax, far-reaching, abundant, noble, august”), from Proto-Germanic *rūmaz (“roomy, spacious”), from Proto-Indo-European *rowǝ- (“free space”). Cognate with Scots roum (“spacious, roomy”), Dutch ruim (“roomy, spacious, wide”), Danish rum (“wide, spacious”), Icelandic rúmur (“spacious”).

Adjective [edit]

room (comparative more room, superlative most room)

  1. (dialectal or obsolete) Wide; spacious; roomy.

Etymology 2 [edit]

From Middle English rome, from Old English rūme (“widely, spaciously, roomily, far and wide, so as to extend over a wide space, liberally, extensively, amply, abundantly, in a high degree, without restriction or encumbrance, without the pressure of care, light-heartedly, without obstruction, plainly, clearly, in detail”). Cognate with Dutch ruim (“amply”, adv).

Adverb [edit]

room (comparative more room, superlative most room)

  1. (dialectal or obsolete) Far; at a distance; wide in space or extent.
  2. (nautical) Off from the wind.

Etymology 3 [edit]

From Middle English roum, from Old English rūm (“room, space”), from Proto-Germanic *rūmą (“room”), from Proto-Indo-European *rowǝ- (“free space”). Cognate with Low German Ruum, Dutch ruim (“space”), German Raum (“space, interior space”), Danish rum (“space, locality”), Norwegian rom (“space”), Swedish rum (“space, location”), and also with Latin rūs (“country, field, farm”) through Indo-European. More at rural.

Apparently an exception to the Great Vowel Shift, which otherwise would have produced the pronunciation /ɹaʊm/, but /aʊ/ does not occur before noncoronal consonants in Modern English.

Noun [edit]

room (plural rooms)

  1. (now rare) Opportunity or scope (to do something). [from 9th c.]
    • 1526, William Tyndale, trans. Bible, Acts I:
      Thou lorde whiche knowest the hertes of all men, shewe whether thou hast chosen of these two, that the one maye take the roume of this ministracion, and apostleshippe from the which Judas by transgression fell, that he myght goo to his awne place.
    • 1748, Samuel Richardson, Clarissa:
      Nor shalt thou give me room to doubt whether it be necessity or love, that inspires this condescending impulse.
  2. (uncountable) Space for something, or to carry out an activity. [from 10th c.] syn. transl.
    • 2010, Jonathan Franklin, The Guardian, 27 Aug 2010:
      He explains they have enough room to stand and lie down, points out the "little cup to brush our teeth", and the place where they pray.
  3. (archaic) A specific area of space. [from 11th c.]
  4. (uncountable, figuratively) Sufficient space for or to do something. [from 15th c.]
    • 2010, Roger Bootle, The Telegraph, 12 Sep 2010:
      There are major disagreements within the Coalition and politicians always want to retain room for manoeuvre.
  5. (nautical) A space between the timbers of a ship's frame. [from 15th c.]
  6. (countable) A separate part of a building, enclosed by walls, a floor and a ceiling. [from 15th c.] syn. transl.
    • 1813, Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice:
      Miss Bingley made no answer, and soon afterwards she got up and walked about the room.
  7. (countable) With possessive pronoun: one's bedroom.
    Go to your room!
  8. (in the plural) A set of rooms inhabited by someone; one's lodgings. [from 17th c.]
  9. (always singular) The people in a room. [from 17th c.]
    The room was on its feet.
  10. (mining) An area for working in a coal mine. [from 17th c.] syn.
  11. (caving) A portion of a cave that is wider than a passage. [from 17th c.] syn.
  12. (Internet, countable) A forum or chat room. [from 20th c.]
    Some users may not be able to access the AOL room.
Quotations [edit]
Synonyms [edit]
Derived terms [edit]
Terms derived from room (noun)
Translations [edit]
opportunity or scope
space def. syn.
specific area of space
sufficient space to do something
nautical: space between timbers
division in a building def. syn.
one's bedroom
set of rooms inhabited by someone
people in a room
mining: area for working in a coal mine
spelunking: portion of a cave wider than a passage
internet: forum or chat room

Verb [edit]

room (third-person singular simple present rooms, present participle rooming, simple past and past participle roomed)

  1. To reside, especially as a boarder or tenant.
    Doctor Watson roomed with Sherlock Holmes at Baker Street.
Derived terms [edit]
Terms derived from the room (verb)

Statistics [edit]

External links [edit]

Wikisource
See also the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica's article on:

Anagrams [edit]

Dutch [edit]

Dutch Wikipedia has an article on:

Wikipedia nl

Pronunciation [edit]

Noun [edit]

room m (uncountable)

  1. cream (of milk)

Derived terms [edit]

Anagrams [edit]

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