household

Definition

Collectively, all the persons who live in a given house; a family including attendants, servants etc.; a domestic or family establishment.

Etymology

From Middle English houshold. By surface analysis, house + hold. Cognate with Scots houshald, housald, housell, howsell (“household”), Dutch huishouden (“household”) (earlier huishoud), German Low German Huushollen (“household”) (Middle Low German hūsholt), German Haushalt (“household”), Swedish hushåll (“household, family”), Norwegian husholdning (“household”).

Example Sentences

• "And calls, without affecting airs, / His household twice a day to prayers."
• "Shih Hung-pi was born a pauper at a poor household in Suichung County, Liaoning. He suffered untold misery in the old society. Then he joined the PLA."
• "Although I was a member of the royal household, I was not among the privileged few who were trained for rule."