Poolsides

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An area adjacent to a swimming pool designed for relaxation and socializing
2. a location where sunbathing and lounging occur near a body of water
3. a space that accommodates seating and recreational activities close to a pool environment

Etymology: "Poolsides" is simply the plural of "poolside," so it describes more than one such location: the paved or grassy margins around swimming pools where people sit, sprawl, and sunbathe. The word is a plain compound, with no story of a coiner or a dramatic shift in meaning to tell. Its two halves are old, each with a long pedigree in English. "Pool" goes back to Old English and was borrowed in its earliest sense from a Germanic root, meaning a body of standing water. "Side" comes from the Old English "sīde," meaning the flank or edge of a body, which is why we still speak of the side of a hill or the sides of a room. Joined together, "pool" and "side" describe the edge of a pool, and the modern sense of a leisure area built beside a swimming pool grew naturally from that literal meaning.