Roommates

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Individuals who share living accommodations, often splitting costs and responsibilities for the space they occupy together
2. people residing in the same dwelling unit, typically with separate bedrooms and shared common areas
3. companions in a shared residence, usually fostering agreements on household rules and communal living arrangements

Etymology: "Mate" began as a word for someone you shared food with. It comes from Middle Low German "gemate," a companion at the table, and its core sense was sharing a meal or living quarters. That sense survives in compounds like "messmate" and "shipmate," where people who ate or slept in the same group were called mates. "Roommate" joins "room," an ordinary word for an enclosed space, to that older idea of companionship. A roommate is therefore someone you share a room with in the way a messmate shares a table, with the meaning moving from the meal to the living space.

Synonyms: flatmates, housemates, roomies, cohabitants, room companions