Sometimes the variety of terms and synonyms makes a contemporary fall into a stupor, get lost in a multitude of meanings. Why are some rooms called bedrooms, others are called barracks, and still others are dormitories and nothing else? What is their fundamental difference, in what situations is it appropriate to use a colorful definition? To understand the problem, you need to look into the history of the sonorous word!
How did the bedchamber evolve?
As a primary source, philologists name a common Proto-Indo-European root with the meaning "to sleep", from which the Latin domire was formed. Subsequently, the verb turned into a noun dormitorium, which was decomposed into interpretations:
- room for the night;
- bedroom.
However, the final "dortoir" is a derivative of the French form dortoir, a direct transcription. Translated:
- bedroom;
- shared bedroom.
The borrowing happened when fashion trends and some elements of culture entered the homes of aristocrats along with the original names. The concept took hold during the heyday of closed traininginstitutions where students stayed for a semester, or even several years.
How does the term stand for today?
It is not surprising that in the era of the heyday of individualism, the meaning of the word "dormitories" is gradually becoming a thing of the past. Now the emphasis is on the dormitory format, where two to four people can live in a room. There, the living space is delimited as much as possible. While the definition under study resembles, rather, a regime object:
- communal bedroom where pupils of the educational institution have a rest;
- sleeping room in the Red Cross military hospital.
What is the difference from a traditional university dorm? Rooms with endless rows of beds and low bedside tables that can accommodate dozens of students are classic dormitories. In them it is impossible to be alone with yourself or protect yourself from the close attention of your comrades. Still the same barracks, although with the help of the name they try to separate military and civilian housing.
When is it appropriate to use?
The word is historical, so it is quite difficult to hear it in everyday conversation. You can meet such premises in monasteries, at seminaries, as well as in old closed schools. Dormitories today are greetings from textbooks and fiction. The concept with which the reader will better feel the spirit of a bygone era, will be able to understand the life of their ancestors through the living conditions of joint housekeeping, eating andsleep.
Sometimes the term is used in an ironic way, which allows you to show off your erudition. The juxtaposition of an elegant French definition and an unprepossessing public berth looks quite ironic. Although not everyone gets the joke. But it's never too much to add to your vocabulary!
