household

English

Etymology

From Middle English houshold, equivalent to house +‎ hold. Cognate with Scots houshald, housald, housell, howsell (“household”), Dutch huishouden (“household”), German Low German Huushollen (“household”), German Haushalt (“household”), Swedish hushåll (“household, family”), Norwegian husholdning (“household”).

Pronunciation

• (UK): IPA^(key): /ˈhaʊshəʊld/
• (US): enPR: housʹhōld, IPA^(key): /ˈhaʊshoʊld/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

household (plural households)

1. Collectively, all the persons who live in a given house; a family including attendants, servants etc.; a domestic or family establishment.
   • 1994, Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom, Abacus 2010, p. 5:

     Although I was a member of the royal household, I was not among the privileged few who were trained for rule.

   • 1732, Jonathan Swift, The Beasts' Confession to the Priest

     And calls, without affecting airs, / His household twice a day to prayers.

2. (obsolete) A line of ancestry; a race or house.
   • 1592, William Shakespeare, Henry VI, Part 1, IV. vi. 39:

     In thee thy mother dies, our household's name, / My death's revenge, thy youth, and England's fame.

Translations

those living in the same residence

• Arabic: بَيْت‎ (ar) m (bayt)
• Bulgarian: домаки́нство (bg) n (domakínstvo)
• Catalan: seguici (ca) m, familiars (ca) pl
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 家庭 (zh) (jiātíng), 戶 (zh), 户 (zh) (hù), 人家 (zh) (rénjiā)

• Czech: domácnost (cs) f
• Danish: husstand c
• Finnish: kotitalous (fi), talous (fi)
• French: foyer (fr) m, ménage (fr), maisonnée (fr) f
• German: Haushalt (de) m
• Gothic: 𐌲𐌰𐍂𐌳𐍃 m (gards)
• Greek: νοικοκυριό (el) n (noikokyrió), οικογένεια (el) f (oikogéneia), σπιτικό (el) n (spitikó)
• Hebrew: מֶשֶׁק בַּיִת‎ (he) m (mésheq báyit)
• Hungarian: egy/közös háztartásban élők, (folksy) háznép (hu), (in certain phrases, otherwise only “housekeeping”) háztartás (hu)
• Irish: teaghlach m, teaghlaigh pl
• Italian: famiglia (it) f, nucleo familiare
• Japanese: 家庭 (ja) (かてい, katei)
• Kikuyu: mũciĩ 3
• Korean: 가정 (ko) (gajeong)
• Latin: familia (la) f
• Manx: mooinjer thielagh f
• Middle English: houshold, hird

• Nahuatl: cemithualtin, techan tlacah
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: husholdning (no) m or f, hushold n, husstand m

  Nynorsk: hushald n, husstand m

• Old English: hīrēd m
• Old Prussian: būrwalks m
• Plautdietsch: Hushault m
• Portuguese: domicílio (pt) m, agregado familiar
• Romanian: familie (ro) f, casă (ro) f, menaj (ro) n
• Russian: семе́йство (ru) n (seméjstvo), семья́ (ru) f (semʹjá), домоча́дцы (ru) m pl (domočádcy), дома́шние (ru) m pl (domášnije)
• Sanskrit: गेह (sa) m or n (geha)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: домаћинство n

  Roman: domaćinstvo (sh) n

• Slovak: domácnosť f
• Spanish: familia (es) f, casa (es) f, hogareños, huéspedes (es), séquito (es) m
• Swedish: hushåll (sv) n
• Tagalog: sambahayan
• Thai: ครัวเรือน (th) (kruua-rʉʉan)
• Turkish: ev halkı (tr)
• Ukrainian: сім'я́ f (simʺjá), роди́на (rodýna)
• Welsh: tylwyth m

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Ido: ^{(please verify)} menajo (io)

• Italian: ^{(please verify)} nucleo familiare m

Adjective

household (not comparable)

1. Belonging to the same house and family.
2. Found in or having its origin in a home.
3. Widely known to the public; familiar.

   a household word; a household name

   • 1599, William Shakespeare, Henry V, Act IV scene iii:

     Old men forget; yet all shall be forgot,

     But he’ll remember with advantages

     What feats he did that day. Then shall our names,

     Familiar in his mouth as household words,

     Harry the King, Bedford and Exeter,

     Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester,

     Be in their flowing cups freshly remembered.

Derived terms

Terms derived from household

• household arts
• Household Cavalry
• household deity

• household god
• household name

Translations

belonging to same house and family

• Bulgarian: семеен (bg) (semeen)
• Finnish: koti- (fi)
• Greek: οικιακός (el) m (oikiakós)

• Portuguese: familiar (pt)
• Romanian: casnic (ro), menajer (ro), familial (ro)
• Spanish: casero, familiar (es)

found in or having its origin in a home

• Bulgarian: домашен (bg) (domašen)
• Finnish: koti- (fi)
• French: domestique (fr) m or f
• Greek: οικιακός (el) m (oikiakós)

• Italian: domestico (it), casalinghi (it) m pl
• Latin: domesticus
• Portuguese: domiciliar (pt)
• Romanian: casnic (ro), domestic (ro)
• Spanish: doméstico (es)