# real estate

Pronunciation: say "REEL uh-stayt" /ˈɹil əˌsteɪt/

## Noun

1. Property that cannot easily be moved, usually buildings and the land they are built on. *(Australia, Canada, US)*
   - Simple: Property that is hard to move, usually buildings and the land they stand on.
   - _Investors poured money into commercial real estate downtown after the new transit line opened._
   - _The family's real estate included two farms and a small apartment building on the edge of town._
3. Space used for a particular purpose, such as the area of a computer screen. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: Space used for one purpose, like the room on a computer screen.
   - _Collapsing the side panel frees up valuable screen real estate for the spreadsheet itself._
   - _Every inch of real estate on the kitchen counter was taken up by appliances and mail._

## Adjective · real-estate

2. Relating to property that cannot easily be moved, usually buildings and the land they are built on.
   - Simple: Having to do with property like houses, other buildings, and land.
   - _The real-estate market cooled sharply once mortgage rates began to climb._
   - _She hired a real-estate lawyer to review the contract before closing on the house._

## Origin

An estate that is 'real' in the legal sense of 'relating to immovable tangible property.' This sense of the word real ultimately goes back to Latin, where reālis could be used in a similar way.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/real-estate (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).