garret

noun

gar·​ret ˈger-ət How to pronounce garret (audio)
ˈga-rət
: a room or unfinished part of a house just under the roof

Examples of garret in a Sentence

bought a charming Victorian house with a garret that she hoped to turn into a writing room
Recent Examples on the Web At that time, the garret had little headspace and no bathroom. Curbed, 17 Jan. 2024 In bed, under the sloping roof of our Paris garret, C said that we should get married. Leslie Jamison, The New Yorker, 15 Jan. 2024 For all those years her room was part of the architecture and geography of my being: a small attic with a garret window, poorly lit, hot in the summer. Jordan Castro, Harper's Magazine, 9 Jan. 2024 Inside is an 1,100-square-foot home whose sloping eaves somehow give an apartment — in spitting distance of Murray Hill — the feel of a cozy attic garret. Adriane Quinlan, Curbed, 5 Jan. 2023 With new windows and skylights, new insulation and upgraded electrical and HVAC systems, the once dark and uninspired garret became a sunny penthouse. Maile Pingel, Washington Post, 9 May 2023 This was no garret. New York Times, 21 May 2021 But Ho is no poet in a garret. Los Angeles Times, 3 Jan. 2022 In his teens, financial difficulties led to his withdrawal from boarding school, where an accident had left him with only one working eye, and after a spell in a garret in the East End of London, he was sent to Cincinnati to find a distant relation, who promptly turned him away. Christopher Carroll, The New York Review of Books, 25 May 2021

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'garret.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Middle English garite "watchtower, turret, room under a roof," borrowed from Anglo-French & continental Old French, alteration by suffix substitution (after fuite "flight," from fuir "to flee") of garrette "shelter for a sentry," from garir "to support, protect" + -ette, deverbal and diminutive suffix — more at garrison entry 1, -ette

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of garret was in the 14th century

Dictionary Entries Near garret

Cite this Entry

“Garret.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/garret. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

garret

noun
gar·​ret ˈgar-ət How to pronounce garret (audio)
: a room or unfinished part of a house just under the roof

More from Merriam-Webster on garret

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