Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

cottage

/ˈkɒt.ɪd͡ʒ/

Word Rarity Uncommon

Frequency: 4.00 in modern English

Syllables
cot-tage
IPA
/ˈkɒt.ɪd͡ʒ/
10
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A small house.

noun

A public lavatory.

British usage; Archaic; Slang

verb

To stay at a seasonal home, to go cottaging.

verb

To have homosexual sex in a public lavatory; to practice cottaging.

Intransitive verb

Example Sentences

Etymology

Late Middle English, from Anglo-Norman cotage and Medieval Latin cotagium, from Old Northern French cot, cote (“cottage, hut”) + -age (“surrounding property”), from Old Norse kot, from Proto-Germanic *kutą, *kuta- (“shed”), probably of non-Indo-European origin, possibly borrowed from Proto-Finno-Ugric/Proto-Uralic *kota (“hut, tent”), probably akin to Proto-Iranian *kátah (“house; roof”). However, also compare Dutch and English hut. Cognates Cognate with Saterland Frisian Koate (“cottage, hut, small house”), Dutch kot (“ramshackle housing”), German Kate, Kote (“cot, cottage, hut”), Norwegian Bokmål kote (“cot, cottage, hut”), Norwegian Nynorsk kot, kott (“small house; small room”), Norwegian Nynorsk kote, kotto, kåte (“hut”), Swedish kåta (“cot, cottage, hut”), Ainu コタン (kotan, “village; town; island; land; country; place”), Akkala Sami куэһть (kueht’, “hut, tent”), Brahui کڈی (kuḍḍī / kuḍī, “hut, small house; wife”), Erzya кудо (kudo, “house”), Estonian koda (“building, house”), Finnish kota (“house, hut”), Hungarian ház (“house”), Kildin Sami куэдтҍ (kuedt’, “hut”), Komi-Permyak керку (kerku, “house, hut”) Komi-Zyrian керка (kerka, “house; family”), Livonian kuodā (“house”), Malayalam കുടി (kuṭi, “dwelling, house; hut; clan”), Moksha куд (kud, “house”), Mongolian хот (xot), ᠬᠣᠲᠠ (qota, “city, town”), Northern Sami goahti (“hut, tent; den, lair”), Southern Sami gåetie (“house; range; tent”), Tamil குடி (kuṭi, “ryot; tenants; citizens; family, household; descent, lineage; caste, race; house, mansion; village”), Udmurt корка (korka, “house, hut”), Ume Sami gåhtie (“tent”), Votic kõta (“house”); also Abkhaz ақыҭа (akəta, “village; community”), Armenian քաղաք (kʻaġakʻ, “city, town”), Belarusian, Russian, and Ukrainian ха́та (xáta, “house, hut”), Czech and Polish chata (“hut”), Gurani کەَ (ka, “house”), Pashto کلی (kəlay, “village”), Persian کده (kade, “house; village”), Northern Kurdish kedî (“domestic”), Yaghnobi кат (kat, “house”). Old Northern French cote is probably from Old Norse kot (“hut”), cognate of Old English cot of same Proto-Germanic origin. Slang sense “public toilet” from 19th century, due to resemblance.

Origin

Word Breakdown

Regional Pronunciation

  • British English: /ˈkɒt.ɪd͡ʒ/

Usage

Inflected Forms

Derived Forms

Phrases

Frequently Paired Words

Synonyms

Rhymes With

Questions

How do you pronounce cottage?
The recorded pronunciation is /ˈkɒt.ɪd͡ʒ/.
What does cottage mean?
A small house.
Where does cottage come from?
It is traced to Middle English.

How to pronounce cottage

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “cottage”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈkɒt.ɪd͡ʒ/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “cottage”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “cottage” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.