room

Etymology 1

From Middle English roum, from Old English rūm (“room, space”), from Proto-West Germanic *rūm (“room”), from Proto-Germanic *rūmą (“room”), from Proto-Indo-European *rewh₁- (“free space”). Cognate with Low German Ruum, Dutch ruimte (“space”) and Dutch ruim (“cargo load”), German Raum (“space, interior space”), Danish rum (“space, locality”), Norwegian rom (“space”), Swedish rum (“space, location”), and also with Latin rūs (“country, field, farm”) through Indo-European. More at rural. It is ostensibly an exception to the Great Vowel Shift, which otherwise would have produced the pronunciation /ɹaʊm/, but /aʊ/ does not occur before noncoronal consonants in Modern English native vocabulary.

noun

1. (now rare) Opportunity or scope (to do something).
2. (uncountable) Space for something, or to carry out an activity.
   He explains they have enough room to stand and lie down, points out the "little cup to brush our teeth", and the place where they pray. 27 Aug 2010, Jonathan Franklin, The Guardian
3. (archaic) A particular portion of space.
   If he have but twelve pence in his purse, he will give it for the best room in a playhouse. 1614, Thomas Overbury, Characters
4. (uncountable, figurative) Sufficient space for or to do something.
   There are major disagreements within the Coalition and politicians always want to retain room for manoeuvre. 12 Sep 2010, Roger Bootle, The Telegraph
5. (nautical) A space between the timbers of a ship's frame.
6. (obsolete) Place; stead.
   For this purpose I have shown that no acquisitions of guilt can compensate the loss of that solid inward comfort of mind, which is the sure companion of innocence and virtue; nor can in the least balance the evil of that horror and anxiety which, in their room, guilt introduces into our bosoms. 1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling
   A ram was accepted as a vicarious sacrifice in room of the royal victim. 1900, James George Frazer, The Golden Bough, 2nd edition, volume 2, page 37
7. (countable) A separate part of a building, enclosed by walls, a floor and a ceiling.
8. (countable, with possessive pronoun) (One's) bedroom.
   Go to your room!
   She was so mad she wouldn't speak to me for quite a spell, but at last I coaxed her into going up to Miss Emmeline's room and fetching down a tintype of the missing Deacon man. 1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, chapter 6, in Mr. Pratt's Patients
   ‘No. I only opened the door a foot and put my head in. The street lamps shine into that room. I could see him. He was all right. Sleeping like a great grampus. Poor, poor chap.’ 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 20, in The China Governess
9. (in the plural) A set of rooms inhabited by someone; one's lodgings.
10. (usually in the singular, metonymically) The people in a room.
    The room was on its feet.
    He was good at reading rooms.
    It was fun to watch her work the room.
11. (mining) An area for working in a coal mine.
12. (caving) A portion of a cave that is wider than a passage.
13. (Internet, countable) An IRC or chat room.
    Some users may not be able to access the AOL room.
    Here in the room we are as one / Together you and me, together you and me / Hours connect / As we switch on 2000, “My Internet Girl”, performed by Aaron Carter
14. Place or position in society; office; rank; post, sometimes when vacated by its former occupant.
    Neither that I look for a higher room in heaven. 1848, William Tyndale, edited by Henry Walter, Doctrinal Treatises and Introductions to Different Portions of the Holy Scriptures
15. A quantity of furniture sufficient to furnish one room.
    “I understand you need some furniture and can’t get no credit.” I liked to fell over. He say, “I’ll give you all the credit you want, but you got to pay the interest on it.” I told him, “Give me three rooms worth and charge whatever you want.” 1985, August Wilson, Fences

verb

1. (intransitive) To reside, especially as a boarder or tenant.
   Doctor Watson roomed with Sherlock Holmes at Baker Street.
   But, then, running into the guy who rooms across the hall from me—in the Paris Metro? 1971-06-13, Paul Goldberger, “On the Champs — Elysees: ‘Hey, Aren't You the Girl Who Sits Across From Me in Abnormal Psych?’”, in The New York Times, →ISSN
2. (transitive) To assign to a room; to allocate a room to.
   […] convinced (with no scientific evidence) that they would contract the dread disease by breathing the same air in which the patient was roomed, by touching the patient or even by changing the sheets of a patient's bed. 1988, Arthur Frederick Ide, AIDS hysteria, page 12

Etymology 2

From Middle English roum, rom, rum, from Old English rūm (“roomy, spacious, ample, extensive, large, open, unencumbered, unoccupied, temporal, long, extended, great, liberal, unrestricted, unfettered, clear, loose, free from conditions, free from occupation, not restrained within due limits, lax, far-reaching, abundant, noble, august”), from Proto-Germanic *rūmaz (“roomy, spacious”), from Proto-Indo-European *rewh₁- (“free space”). Cognate with Scots roum (“spacious, roomy”), Dutch ruim (“roomy, spacious, wide”), Danish rum (“wide, spacious”), German raum (“wide”), Icelandic rúmur (“spacious”).

adj

1. (dialectal or obsolete) Wide; spacious; roomy.

Etymology 3

From Middle English rome, from Old English rūme (“widely, spaciously, roomily, far and wide, so as to extend over a wide space, liberally, extensively, amply, abundantly, in a high degree, without restriction or encumbrance, without the pressure of care, light-heartedly, without obstruction, plainly, clearly, in detail”). Cognate with Dutch ruim (“amply”, adverb).

adv

1. (dialectal or obsolete) Far; at a distance; wide in space or extent.
2. (nautical) Off from the wind.

Etymology 4

noun

1. Alternative form of roum (“deep blue dye”)