Condo

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈkɑndoʊ/

Definitions

1. A privately owned residential unit within a larger building or complex that shares common areas with other units
2. A type of housing that consists of individual units owned separately while sharing communal facilities with neighboring units in a complex
3. A residential building structure where individual units are owned by separate individuals, providing shared amenities for all occupants

Etymology: "Condo" is a shortening of "condominium," so its story is really the story of the longer word. "Condominium" was formed from Latin "con-," meaning "together," and "dominium," meaning "ownership" or "dominion." Put together, the parts describe joint ownership: several people holding rights over the same property at once. The clipped form took the everyday housing sense that the full word had come to carry. The shortened version is what people now use for the apartment-style units, each owned separately, that sit within a shared building or complex with common areas such as lobbies, pools and gardens. The long word has a wider reach, covering any arrangement of shared ownership, but in ordinary speech it is the short form that has become the familiar name for the housing type.

Synonyms: condominium, apartment, flat, unit, suite

Antonyms: house, cottage, bungalow, mansion