building

[ bil-ding ]

noun

1. a relatively permanent enclosed construction over a plot of land, having a roof and usually windows and often more than one level, used for any of a wide variety of activities, as living, entertaining, or manufacturing.
2. anything built built or constructed.
3. the act, business, or practice of constructing houses, office buildings, etc.

building

/ ˈbɪldɪŋ /

noun

1. something built with a roof and walls, such as a house or factory
2. the act, business, occupation, or art of building houses, boats, etc

Other Words From

• building·less adjective
• under·building noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of building¹

First recorded in 1250–1300, building is from the Middle English word byldinge. See build, -ing ¹

Synonym Study

Building, edifice, structure refer to something built. Building and structure may apply to either a finished or an unfinished product of construction, and carry no implications as to size or condition. Edifice is a more formal word and narrower in application, referring to a completed structure, and usually a large and imposing one. Building generally connotes a useful purpose (houses, schools, business offices, etc.); structure suggests the planning and constructive process.

Example Sentences

The chase ended around 1 p.m. when the driver stopped in the parking lot at the rear of an apartment building in the West Adams neighborhood.

From Los Angeles Times

In 2019, unionized construction workers raised alarms about a company building luxury apartments in Oakland that appeared to be skirting its financial obligations, both to the state and its employees.

From Los Angeles Times

"The better we understand the basic building blocks of the nervous system, the more we understand how we can replace them during disease and injury."

From Science Daily

A chemical reaction can convert two polluting greenhouse gases into valuable building blocks for cleaner fuels and feedstocks, but the high temperature required for the reaction also deactivates the catalyst.

From Science Daily

So options could include a moratorium on building production facilities, eventual caps on production, and then reduction of production.

From Science Magazine

Related Words

• architecture
• construction
• home
• house
• hut