house
A building for human habitation; a dwelling place for a family.
Etymology
From Old English hūs, from Proto-Germanic *hūsą. The PIE origin is debated — some connect it to *(s)kew- "to cover, to hide," but this is uncertain. The PIE root *dem- meant "house, household" and gave Latin domus ("domestic," "domicile"), but Germanic went its own way with *hūsą. English thus has two parallel lines: native "house" and Latin-derived "domestic."
The Journey: (disputed) → house
*(s)kew- (disputed)
*hūsą
hūs
house
Cognates Across Languages
These words in other languages descend from the same PIE root (disputed). They are not borrowings but independent inheritances from a common ancestor.
| Language | Word |
|---|---|
| Greek | dómos (from *dem-) |
| Latin | domus (from *dem-) |
| Gothic | (none) |
| Sanskrit | dám- (from *dem-) |
| Old Norse | hús |
| Old High German | hūs |
Did You Know?
PIE *dem- "house" gave Latin domus (hence "domestic," "domicile," "dome") and Greek dómos, while Germanic went its own way with *hūsą. The word "husband" originally meant "house-dweller" (hūs + bóndi).