House is Old English hus, with relatives everywhere in Germanic: Dutch huis, German Haus, Old Norse hus. Its origin beyond that is unknown; one suggestion connects it to the root of hide, which would make a house a hiding-place. In Gothic the word appears only in gudhus, "god-house," meaning a temple, the ordinary word for a dwelling there being something else entirely.
It is the native rung of the ladder that climbs through French mansion to Latin domicile. And it does what native words do: it goes everywhere. A house is a family and its ancestors from about 1000, a sign of the zodiac from the late 1300s, a place of business from the 1580s, a legislative body from the 1540s, and the audience in a theatre from the 1660s. Borrowed words rarely branch like that; the words that do are almost always the oldest ones.
house (n.) Old English hus "dwelling, shelter, building designed to be used as a residence," from Proto-Germanic *hūsan (source also of Old Norse, Old Frisian hus , Dutch huis , German Haus ), of unknown origin, perhaps connected to the root of hide (v.) [OED]. In Gothic only in gudhus "temple," literally "god-house;" the usual word for "house" in Gothic being according to OED razn . Meaning "family, including ancestors and descendants, especially if noble" is from c. 1000. Zodiac sense is first attested late 14c. The legislative sense (1540s) is transferred from the building in which the body meets. Meaning "audience in a theater" is from 1660s (transferred from the theater itself, playhouse ). Meaning "place of business" is 1580s. The specialized college and university sense (1530s) also applies to both buildings and students collectively, a double sense found earlier in reference to religious orders (late 14c.). As a dance club DJ music style, probably from the Warehouse , a Chicago nightclub where the style is said to have originated. To play house is from 1871; as suggestive of "have sex, shack up," 1968. House arrest is attested by 1794. House-painter is from 1680s. House-raising (n.) is from 1704. On the house "free" is from 1889. House and home have been alliteratively paired since c. 1200. And the Prophet Isaiah the sonne of Amos came to him, and saide vnto him, Thus saith the Lord, Set thine house in order: for thou shalt die, and not liue. [II Kings xx.1, version of 1611] house (v.) "give shelter to," Old English husian "to take into a house; place or enclose in a house" (cognate with Old Frisian husa , German hausen , Dutch huizen ); see house (n.). Intransitive sense from 1590s. Related: Housed ; housing .
house came in through Old English, and its spelling follows that family's conventions.
On the register ladder
English kept all three words for this idea, one from each layer, and the rung is itself the cue: the native word is blunt and concrete, the French one polite, the Latin one formal or technical.
| Old English | French | Latin |
|---|---|---|
| house | mansion | domicile |
Old English in the spelling guide · guess another word's family