Flatmate is British/European, whereas roommate is American. Both can indicate having a separate room in an apartment, or sharing a room. In the US, roommate has generally been replaced by housemate to avoid this confusion, since it is pretty rare for people sharing an apartment to sleep in the same bedroom.

Is roommate and housemate the same thing?

In technical terms, a roommate is someone you share a bedroom with, while a housemate is someone you share a house or apartment with. However, in the United States, people often use the term roommate, or roomie, to refer to anyone you share a living space with, even if youre not sharing a bedroom.

What do you call someone you share an apartment with?

You can use roommate, housemate, flatmate and similar terms to indicate that two unrelated people live together. Thus, you can use housemate anywhere to indicate that two people simply live in the same house. In American English, you can also call them roommates.

What is flatmate in American English?

someone who you share a flat with. The American word is roommate. Synonyms and related words.

What is the purpose of a roommate?

A roommate agreement is a legally binding document that you and whomever you share your living space with will sign. It spells out how you will split bills, share items or food, use and maintain common areas and eventually move out.

What are people living together called?

A household refers to a family or group of people living together. Its a social unit under one roof. All the people living in your house, including servants, make up your household.

What is a roommate called in England?

In the UK, the term roommate means a person living in the same bedroom, whereas in the United States and Canada, roommate and housemate are used interchangeably regardless whether a bedroom is shared, although it is common in US universities that having a roommate implies sharing a room together.

Is a roommate agreement necessary?

Just like signing a lease agreement when you move into a new apartment, you need to draw up a roommate agreement before you decide to move in with someone. Part of it is etiquette, but mostly its to make sure conflicts are handled appropriately and there are rules and expectations established before you live together.

What is considered a roommate?

A roommate is a person with whom one shares a living facility such as a room or dormitory except when being family or romantically involved. Similar terms include dormmate, suitemate, housemate, or flatmate (flat: the usual term in British English for an apartment).

Why is a home called a pad?

Pad is a common word that dates to the 16th century, but etymologists cant find any record of its parentage. In the 20th century that sense of pad extended to the place furnished with a bed—that is, pad became another word for a bedroom and then for an apartment or house, as in bachelor pad.

What are slang words for home?

hooch.(or hootch)[slang],hovel,hut,hutch,shack,shanty.

Do British people say roommate?

In the UK, the term roommate means a person living in the same bedroom, whereas in the United States and Canada, roommate and housemate are used interchangeably regardless whether a bedroom is shared, although it is common in US universities that having a roommate implies sharing a room together.

Why is it called roommate?

Etymonlines entry for roommate is rather plain, simply listing room and mate as the roots. The entry for room is somewhat more illuminating, but the noun entry seems to point to a contiguous space, whereas the US usage of roommate relates to sharing a divided space (a house).