room
Pluralrooms
Pluralrooms
- 1One of the separate spaces inside a building, with its own walls, such as your bedroom.
We painted the spare room a pale blue.
There are five rooms upstairs and two downstairs.
UsageCompare We booked a room with Please make room for me (space).
- 2Empty space that you can use for something.
Like the empty space on a shelf where another book could still fit.
There isn't enough room in the car for all the bags.
We need more room to set up the tables.
UsageSay room for two more, or make room for someone.
Similarspace
- 3Enough chance or freedom to do or have something.
There is plenty of room for improvement in your essay.
The plan leaves little room for mistakes.
UsageSay room to grow or no room for error.
Similarscope, leeway, latitude, margin, opportunity
- 4
- 5
Less common meanings
- 6
- 7The set of rooms where someone lives, often rented from another person.
They rented rooms over the shop for a year.
She rented rooms near the station when she first moved to the city.
UsageSay he took rooms in town, meaning he rented a place.
Similarlodgings, quarters, accommodation, digs
Note
- 8To put someone in a room, or give them a room to use.
The college will room you with another freshman.
They roomed the guests on the second floor.
UsageOften said as be roomed: we were roomed on the top floor.
Similarhouse, lodge, accommodate, billet
Note
- 9An old use meaning a place, job, or position, or someone else's place.
A ram was accepted as a vicarious sacrifice in room of the royal victim.
1900, James George Frazer, The Golden BoughHere, in room of means in place of.Note
- 10Enough furniture to fill or furnish a single room.
Like a set of dishes sold together instead of one plate at a time.
They bought a whole room of furniture for the new house.
We could only afford one room of furniture at a time.
UsageSay a room of furniture or two rooms' worth.
Note
- 11Having lots of space inside, wide and roomy.
Note
- 12Far away, or with a wide space in between.
Note
- 13A dark blue dye. It is an old spelling of roum that is no longer used.
Note
- 14A wide open part of a cave, much bigger than the narrow tunnels around it.
- 15When sailing, steering away from the direction the wind comes from.
- 16A small gap left between the wooden ribs of a ship's frame.
- 17The space where miners dig out coal inside a mine.
Showing meanings only.
Practice
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Origins
From Old English rūm, meaning "room" or "space." It goes back to old Germanic and Indo-European roots and is related to German Raum ("space").
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
- Room derives from Old English rūm, meaning room or space. en.wiktionary.org
- The word has Germanic and Indo-European ancestry. en.wiktionary.org
- German Raum is related and means space. en.wiktionary.org
From Old English rūm, meaning "roomy" or "spacious." It comes from old Germanic and Indo-European roots.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
- The adjective room derives from Old English rūm. en.wiktionary.org
- Old English rūm meant roomy or spacious. en.wiktionary.org
- Its ancestry includes Germanic and Indo-European roots. en.wiktionary.org
From Old English rūme, an adverb meaning "widely" or "spaciously."
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
- The adverb room derives from Old English rūme. en.wiktionary.org
- Old English rūme is an adverb meaning widely or spaciously. en.wiktionary.org