English Reference
Noun

householder

n.
C1 Advanced US /ˈhaʊsˌhoʊɫdɝ/ UK /hˈaʊshəʊldɐ/ house·hold·er UK spelling householders

n.a person who owns or lives in a house. You usually hear this word when talking about people who pay taxes or manage their own homes.

n.a person who owns or occupies a house. Often used in legal or administrative contexts to refer to the primary resident of a property.


SIMPLE

The local council sends a tax bill to every householder.

CONTEXTUAL

The new housing policy requires every householder to maintain a small garden for the benefit of the neighborhood.

COMPLEX

While the landlord is responsible for structural repairs, the householder must ensure that all internal fixtures and fittings remain in good working order to avoid safety hazards.

UK or Irish nationals made up 88.5% of main social home householders in 2024/25, according to the English Housing Survey.

BBC News· 23 Aug 2026

From Middle English housholdere, equivalent to household + -er. The Buddhist sense is a semantic loan from Pali gahapati (literally “house-master”).

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This entry
Origin Middle English housholdere
Level C1 · Advanced
Frequency Occasional
Updated