ENGLISH
REFERENCE

dwelling

n. countable
B2 Upper Intermediate US //ˈdwɛɫɪŋ// UK //dwˈɛlɪŋ// dwelling

n. a house, apartment, or other place where someone lives. It is a formal word for a home.

n. a building or place of residence; a shelter in which people live. Often used in legal, architectural, or formal contexts to describe any type of habitation.


SIMPLE

The old dwelling stood at the edge of the forest.

CONTEXTUAL

The city council is planning to build several new multi-family dwellings to address the housing shortage.

COMPLEX

Archaeologists discovered the remains of a prehistoric dwelling, providing valuable insight into how early humans constructed permanent shelters from local stone and timber.

Synonyms
Etymology 1

From Middle English dwellynge, dwellyng (“delay, continuance, abode”), equivalent to dwell + -ing. More at dwell.

Etymology 2

From dwell + -ing.

Usage

Commonly used in formal writing, legal documents, and census data rather than in casual conversation.

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