Housing Means Homes, and Also the Case Around a Machine
Housing is the supply of homes and the policy around them. In engineering it is the casing that protects a moving part.
Housing means dwellings considered together: housing policy, social housing, the housing market. Engineering uses the same word literally — a bearing housing is the case that shelters and holds a component, giving it a house of its own.
- Homes collectively. *Affordable housing.*
- The provision of homes. *A housing shortage.*
- A protective casing. *The gearbox housing cracked.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | housing | New housing. |
| Verb | house | The building houses a library. |
| Adjective | housed | Poorly housed families. |
| Compound | housing estate | A 1960s housing estate. |
| Compound | housing market | The housing market cooled. |
How it is used in a sentence
- The council approved two hundred new housing units.Planning language.
- The museum houses a Roman collection.The verb means contains.
- Water had got into the motor housing.The engineering sense.
Housing vocabulary
- Social housing — rented at below-market rents, publicly or charitably owned
- Affordable housing — a policy category, defined differently in each country
- Tenure — whether a home is owned, rented or shared
- Housing stock — all the homes in an area
- Overcrowding — measured by rooms or bedrooms per person
From *house*, Old English *hus*, plus *-ing*. The mechanical sense appeared in the nineteenth century as machines acquired parts that needed enclosing.
Is housing countable?
Not usually. Say housing units or homes rather than housings, unless you mean mechanical casings.
Housing or accommodation?
Housing is the wider policy word for dwellings. Accommodation covers anywhere someone stays, including hotels and temporary places.