Association of British Scrabble Players

Society > Structures > Habitations


Now updated for CSW19. New words, if any, and new inflections of existing words, are shown in red.


almonry the place where an almoner resides, or where alms are distributed.
almshouse a privately supported house offering accommodation to the aged or needy.
apartment appartement a set of rooms in a house for an individual or a family.
apartmental relating to an APARTMENT.
aularian relating to a hall in a university; (noun) a member of a hall (as opposed to a college).
backsplit (Canadian) a house with floors raised half a storey at the rear, having an upper and lower main floor, and an upper and lower basement.
banda in Africa, a thatched hut.
barrack a building or group of buildings used to accommodate military personnel; (verb) to shout at derisively or sarcastically.
basti busti in India, a flimsy hut > BASTIS, BUSTIS. Also BUSTEE.
bastide a French country-house.
bedsit a basic form of rented accommodation.
bedsitter a furnished room without a bed. Also BEDSIT.
bhavan bhawan in India, a large house or building. Also BHAVAN.
biding residence, habitation.
biggin bigging a building.
boardinghouse a private house in which accommodation and meals are provided for paying guests.
bothan a booth, a hut.
bothie bothy a hut, cabin.
bungaloid of or like a bungalow.
bungalow a lightly-built house, properly one with a veranda and one storey.
bunkhouse a place where cowboys etc. sleep.
bustee a flimsy hut, a squatter colony. [Hindi basti].
busti see BASTI.
cabana a small tent-like cabin.
cabin (verb) to live in a cabin.
camboose a cabin built as living-quarters for a gang of lumbermen.
casa a house, a mansion.
casern caserne a barrack or billet for soldiers.
casita a small house.
chalet a type of wooden house of Swiss origin, typically low, with wide projecting eaves.
chateau a castle > CHATEAUS or CHATEAUX.
chickee a stilt house of the Seminole Indians.
condo short for CONDOMINIUM, a set of flats, group of cottages, etc. rented or bought by a group of people; a unit of property so held > CONDOS or CONDOES.
condominium a set of flats, group of cottages, etc., rented or bought by a group of people; a unit of property so held.
cottage a small simple house, esp. in a rural area.
cottaged covered with cottages.
cottagey like a cottage.
dacha datcha a Russian country house.
doghole a place fit only for dogs; a vile, mean habitation or apartment.
domicil a dwelling-place, abode. Also DOMICILE.
domicile a dwelling-place, abode; (verb) to be resident in. Also DOMICIL.
finca a Spanish villa > FINCAS.
flatette a small flat.
flatlet a small flat.
forecourt a court in front of a building.
fourplex a QUADPLEX, a building having four units.
gatehouse a building over or at a gate.
ger a Mongolian felt tent, aka YURT.
guardhouse a building occupied by people keeping guard.
guesthouse a private home or boarding house offering accommodation, esp. to travellers.
gunyah an Australian aborigine's hut.
haram hareem harem harim a women's quarters in a Muslim house; a set of wives and concubines.
hibernacle that which serves for protection or shelter in winter; winter quarters; as, the hibernacle of an animal or a plant.
hibernaculum the winter quarters of a hibernating animal > HIBERNACULA.
highrise a tall building.
hogan 1. (Am. Ind.) a log hut, usu. covered with earth, built by the Navajo tribe; 2. (Dutch) strong liquor (also HOGEN).
hovel to shelter in a hovel > HOVELED/HOVELLED.
humpy (Aborig.) a bush dwelling of simple construction. [Aborigine yumbi]; (adj.) full of humps > HUMPIER, HUMPIEST.
hut to quarter (troops) in a hut.
hutlike like a hut.
hutment accommodation or lodging in huts; a hutted encampment.
igloo iglu a snow house. [Inupiaq iglu, house].
insula (Roman antiquity) a block of buildings, an apartment house > INSULAE.
isba a Russian log hut.
istana in Malaysia, a royal palace.
jacal a hut built of erect stakes filled in with wattle and mud, common in Mexico and the south-western US; an adobe house > JACALS or JACALES. [Mex. Sp. f. Nahuatl xacalli contr. of xamitl calli adobe house].
kibitka a tent used by the Kirghiz Tartars.
lanai a verandah or roofed patio.
libken a place to sleep.
lockhouse a lock-keeper's house.
loge a small enclosure or box in a theatre or opera house.
longhouse a long communal house e.g. in S.E. Asia.
maisonette a part of a residential building which is occupied separately, usu. on more than one floor.
mamateek a type of WIGWAM.
manor the manor house of a lord and the lands attached to it.
manse an ecclesiastical residence; a house allocated to or occupied by a minister, esp. in the Church of Scotland.
mansion a manor-house, a large and stately residence.
mansionary mansonry residence, buildings.
marquee a large tent with open sides for outdoor entertainment; roof over entrance.
mas a house or farm in the south of France > MASES.
motherhouse the convent in which the superior of a religious community resides.
oilcamp a living area for workers at an oil well.
orphanage a place where orphans are housed.
outhouse a small house or building at a little distance from the main house; an outbuilding.
palace the home of a royal personage, bishop etc.
palafitte a prehistoric hut or settlement built on stakes driven into the bed of a lake, esp. in Switzerland or northern Italy; a lake village. [Fr. f. It. palafitta a fence of stakes, f. palo stake + fitto fixed.]
palais a palace.
parsonage the home of a parson.
pastorium the residence of a PASTOR > PASTORIUMS.
penthouse a flat or maisonette built onto the top floor or roof of a block of flats; (verb) to cover or shelter as in a penthouse.
playhouse a child's miniature house for playing in.
pondok pondokkie in South Africa, a small hut, a shack.
poorhouse a place of residence for people too poor to support themselves.
praetorium the court or palace of the governor of a Roman province; transf. an official building, esp. the court or palace of an ancient king > PRAETORIUMS.
pueblo a communistic building erected by certain Indian tribes of Arizona and New Mexico > PUEBLOS.
quadplex a building having four units.
quinta a country house in Spain or Portugal.
rancho a rude hut, as of posts, covered with branches or thatch, where herdsmen or farm laborers may live or lodge at night > RANCHOS.
reclusory the habitation of a recluse; a hermitage.
rectory a minister's or priest's house.
resiance residence; abode.
residency the official residence of a representative of the Governor-General or Viceroy (or formerly of the East India Company) at the court of an Indian State.
riad a traditional Moroccan house or palace with an interior garden.
rondavel in S. Africa, a round hut with a grass roof. [Afrik. rondawel].
schloss a castle, palace, manor-house.
seraglio serail a harem; a palace of a sultan.
serai a palace; a seraglio; also, in the East, a place for the accommodation of travelers; a caravanserai, or rest house.
shack a roughly built cabin or hut, esp. of logs, metal sheeting, etc. N.B. not valid as a verb, because always appears in expression SHACK UP.
shamiana shamianah shamiyanah in India, a large tent or awning.
shealing sheiling shieling a rough hut near summer pasture used as shelter by shepherds.
shed to house in a shed.
skeo skio a hut, a shed.
skilling skillion an outhouse or lean-to, esp. one with a sloping roof.
skyhome a sub-penthouse flat in a tall building.
soddy (noun) a house built of sod; (adj.) consisting of sod; covered with sod > SODDIER, SODDIEST.
soddie a house built of sod.
souterrain an underground chamber; an earth-house.
storehouse a place where food and other stores are kept.
subterrane subterrene an underground cave or dwelling.
succah sukkah a hut or shelter roofed with branches, used by Jews as a temporary living accommodation during Sukkoth, the Festival of the Tabernacles > SUCCAHS or SUCCOTH; SUKKAHS or SUKKOTH.
summerhouse an outdoor structure for use during the summer.
teepee tepee tipi a Native American tent. [Sioux tipi, dwelling].
tenement a block of flats.
tenemented possessing TENEMENTS.
toft a homestead; a hillock.
topek tupek tupik an Inuit animal-skin tent. [Inupiaq tupiq].
townhome a home in town.
townhouse a terraced house in an urban area, esp. a fashionable one, often having the main living room on the first floor with an integral garage on the ground floor.
treehouse a house built in a tree.
twigloo a makeshift shelter. [Coined from twig and igloo].
vicarage the habitation of a vicar.
villa a country house or farmhouse with subsidiary buildings; a detached house of some size > VILLAS or VILLAE.
weem a subterranean dwelling. [Gaelic uaim, cave].
whare a Maori house.
wharenui wharepuni a tall carved building used as a guesthouse > WHARENUIS, WHAREPUNIS.
wickiup wickyup wikiup a N. American Indian hut constructed with an oval frame and covered with grass or mats.
wigwam a domed tent-like American Indian dwelling.
wilja wiltja an Australian Aboriginal shelter or hut.
woning wonning a state of dwelling; a dwelling-place. WONNING is OSPD but only as the participle of WON, hence WONNINGS is #.
wurley wurlie a nest; an aboriginal hut > WURLEYS, WURLIES.
xenodochium a building for the reception of strangers, e.g. a guest-house in a monastery > XENODOCHIUMS.
yourt yurt a felt tent used by Mongolians. The pl. of YURT is YURTS or YURTA; of YOURT is YOURTS.
zanana zenana in the Indian subcontinent, the part of a house in which high-caste women are or were secluded.