What is the difference between housemate and roommate

Should they pitch up some cash for the food they go through? And the electricity they use? But living with flatmates is not all about battles that need to be fought and won , or constant compromise.

The good thing about flatmates is, unlike relatives, you get to choose who you want to live with when looking for a flatmate — or for somewhere to live. When searching for a flatmate or for accommodation, there are plenty of options, including asking friends, checking local noticeboards, classified ads, newsletters, and of course, online portals such as flatmate.

Once you have made contact with someone, you might want to meet in in a public place first, just to be safe. The first quotation the OED gives for roommate is from The OED defines roommate as:.

In contrast, the OED definition for housemate and all its quotations mean a person sharing a house with another. For example:. Kettlewell Electric Dreams 11 He.. Of course, that quotation could be from a UK source. The first use of housemate in a quotation from the OED is I'm afraid this hasn't got you very far forward with your question as to how roommate took over housemate in the US -- and to a certain extent in the UK, as shown by the OED definition of roommate.

My own speculation -- and it is just a speculation -- is that many people have roommates in college i. Suite-mate is also used. OED :. Sexuality 12 His suitemates complained about living with someone who identified as bisexual. The shared use of living space seems correct to me. And, given that, I would say that the North American use of roommate certainly does mean sharing one or more rooms. The Merriam-Webster definition of roommate is:.

However, it doesn't need to apply to every room and it certainly doesn't apply to the bedroom specifically. Although I will note that some university dormitories or at least as popularized on TV and in movies do have a single room with two "sides"—each of which has a bed. Roommates in these living quarters share the room—even if they sleep in separate beds. Such single-room dwellings were more prevalent in the past too.

As for public spaces such as restaurants, people there aren't roommates because none of them live there. But in E. Basil E. Frankweiler , a brother and sister end up running away from home and "living" in a museum.

They could arguably have been called roommates when they were there. Even though they didn't sleep in the same room. As a kind of counter question, I would be interested in knowing how the British use of roommate ended up having the specific meaning of "bedroommate" when there are so many other rooms.

Roommate noun A person with whom one shares a room, as at university etc. Housemate noun One who dwells in the same house with another. Roommate noun One of two or more occupying the same room or rooms; one who shares the occupancy of a room or rooms; a chum. Roommate noun an associate who shares a room with you. Roommate A roommate is a person with whom one shares a living facility such as a room or dormitory except when being family or romantically involved. Housemate Illustrations.

Popular Comparisons. Adress vs. Comming vs. Label vs. Genius vs. Speech vs. Chief vs. Teat vs. Neice vs. Buisness vs. Beeing vs. When you're thinking about your future living arrangement and calculating your cost of living, it's important to keep in mind how people often use the terms housemate and roommate interchangeably.

Just because someone says they're looking for a new roommate, don't assume you'll be sharing a bedroom. At the same time, if someone says they're looking for a housemate, it's a smart idea to check whether or not you'll be sharing a bedroom.

So, if you see someone advertising that they're looking for the perfect roommate , it's worth checking to see what they're really looking for. Are they looking to share a bedroom, or are they just looking to share a house? If you don't follow up with potential roommates, you might miss out on finding a great person to share your living space with.

After all, you'll be living in a shared house where everyone's opinion matters.