dormitory

American  

[dawr-mi-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee] / ˈdɔr mɪˌtɔr i, -ˌtoʊr i /

noun

plural

dormitories

1. a building, as at a college, containing a number of private or semiprivate rooms for residents, usually along with common bathroom facilities and recreation areas.

2. a room containing a number of beds and serving as communal sleeping quarters, as in an institution, fraternity house, or passenger ship.

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dormitory British  

/ -trɪ, ˈdɔːmɪtərɪ /

noun

1. a large room, esp at a school or institution, containing several beds

2. a building, esp at a college or camp, providing living and sleeping accommodation

3. (modifier) denoting or relating to an area from which most of the residents commute to work (esp in the phrase dormitory suburb )

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Etymology

Origin of dormitory

1475–85; < Latin dormītōrium bedroom, equivalent to dormī ( re ) to sleep + -tōrium -tory ²

Explanation

A dormitory is a building at a boarding school, college, or university where students live. Many students have roommates in a dormitory, and sometimes those roommates put up really cheesy posters of shirtless guys leaning on cars. The word dormitory is from the Latin dormitorium for "sleeping place," and if you keep going back you get to dormire for "to sleep." A dormitory is where students who live at school sleep — well, it’s where their beds are anyway. Often the first time kids sleep away at school is when they go to college. There are often different dorms for freshman and older students. Dormitories are also called dorms, residence halls, and student residences.

Example Sentences

At a dormitory there in her freshman year she discovered luxury: a bed of her own.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 26, 2026

About 10 North Koreans crowded into a two-bedroom dormitory space containing little more than bunk beds and computers.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 16, 2026

She also alleged that the staff member would come into their dormitory room, an allegation repeated by Miyu and the third trainee the BBC interviewed.

From BBC • Feb. 6, 2026

Lam Thanh, 50, who manages a dormitory for workers near one of Ho Chi Minh City's estimated 1,000 courts, says the cacophony is proving to be costly.

From Barron's • Dec. 28, 2025

No rain came through the roof; it had the best bed I had ever slept on; and there was a shower in a building near the dormitory.

From "Facing the Lion" by Joseph Lemasolai Lekuton and Herman Viola

Related Words

• bedroom
• dorm
• dorm room