What does flatting mean?
Flatting is a word with two quite distinct lives. In trades and crafts, it names the process of making a surface flat or smooth — rubbing down paint to a matte sheen, leveling a coating, or planishing metal — and appears in technical discussions of finishing and restoration. In New Zealand and, to a lesser extent, Australia, flatting carries an entirely different meaning: it describes the common arrangement of renting a house or apartment jointly with others, so that a person who is "flatting" shares the premises and costs with flatmates rather than living alone. This second sense is deeply embedded in Antipodean culture and conversation, where moving out of home typically means "going flatting." The word derives simply from the adjective "flat" via its verb form. Its dual identity makes it useful shorthand in both workshop and household contexts, though visitors from outside Australasia may need a moment to parse which kind of flatting is meant.
The action or process of making something flat, level, or smooth, especially by sanding or rubbing down a painted or coated surface.
"Careful flatting between coats gives the varnish its mirror-smooth finish."
Common in painting, coachbuilding, and printing trades.
In New Zealand and Australian English, the practice of living in a shared rented dwelling with other people.
"Flatting in Auckland can be expensive, but it keeps the rent manageable."
Derived from the noun "flat" (an apartment), not from the verb "to make flat."
In New Zealand, "going flatting" is as ordinary as saying "getting a roommate" is elsewhere — the word turns an entire way of renting into a single everyday term.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of flatting
Flatting derives from "flat," an adjective that entered Middle English from Old Norse "flatr," meaning level or smooth, reflecting Scandinavian influence on English during the medieval period. As the verb "to flat" developed — meaning to make flat or level — its gerund form "flatting" followed naturally, appearing in trade and craft vocabulary. The shared-housing sense arose later from the British use of "flat" for a self-contained rental apartment, becoming standard usage in New Zealand, where flatting came to denote communal renting with flatmates.
Related word forms
How flatting is actually used
In trade contexts (painting, printing, metalworking), "flatting" is a technical term for producing a matte or level surface, often through sanding or rubbing down. The residential sense is strongly regional: it is standard vocabulary in New Zealand, where a shared house is called a "flat" and its occupants are "flatmates," but it may puzzle speakers of American English, who would say "having roommates."
Easily confused with flatting
Flaunting means showing off ostentatiously, while flatting means making something flat or, in New Zealand English, sharing a rental home.