What does roomer mean?
A roomer is someone who rents a room in another person's home. The occupant may share kitchens, bathrooms, living rooms, and other common areas with the family or other tenants who live there, but the arrangement is commonly understood as a landlord-and-renter relationship rather than an equal partnership between housemates. The word is chiefly used in North America, though related terms such as lodger and boarder occur in British English. Roomer is especially useful when the distinction between sharing a home and simply renting part of one matters: a roommate shares the residence and often its expenses, while a roomer pays for the use of a room. The term can therefore describe students, young adults, temporary residents, or anyone seeking a more economical arrangement than renting a separate apartment.
nounA person who rents a room in another person's home, usually while sharing the kitchen, bathroom, and other common facilities with the household.
- A person who rents and occupies a room in a private home, often paying rent to the owner or head of the household.
"Their family decided to take in a roomer to help cover the mortgage."
"The previous tenant left, and the couple found a roomer within a week."
"As an international student, she lived as a roomer with a family in the suburbs."
The standard plural is roomers, with the spelling unchanged before the suffix -s.
"The building has hosted several roomers over the years."
A roomer gets a room; a roommate gets a home.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of roomer
Roomer is an English word formed in the late nineteenth century from room and the agent suffix -er, meaning a person associated with renting or occupying a room. The noun room entered Middle English through Old French, ultimately deriving from a Germanic word for space or chamber. Roomer developed as a residential term and remains most common in North American English.
How roomer is actually used
The term is chiefly associated with North American English. It is often contrasted with a roommate because the financial and domestic relationship may be less equal.
Easily confused with roomer
A roomer rents a room in someone else's home, whereas a roommate is generally a person who shares a residence, including its expenses, on an equal basis.