# cottage

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈkɒt.ɪd͡ʒ/ · frequency rank #7,112

## Definitions
1. A small house.
2. A seasonal home of any size or stature, a recreational home or a home in a remote location.
3. A public lavatory.
4. A meeting place for homosexual men.

## Etymology
Late Middle English, from Anglo-Norman cotage and Medieval Latin cotagium, from Old Northern French cot, cote (“hut, cottage”) + -age (“surrounding property”), from Proto-Germanic *kutą, *kuta- (“shed”), probably of non-Indo-European origin, possibly borrowed from Uralic; compare Finnish kota (“hut, house”) and Hungarian ház (“house”), both from Proto-Finno-Ugric/Proto-Uralic *kota. However, also compare Dutch and English hut.
Old Northern French cote is probably from Old Norse kot (“hut”), cognate of Old English cot of same Proto-Germanic origin.
Slang sense “public toilet” from 19th century, due to resemblance.

## Easily confused with
- **courage** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cottage-vs-courage)
- **cotta** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cotta-vs-cottage)
- **collage** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/collage-vs-cottage)
- **coinage** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/coinage-vs-cottage)

## Common misspellings (8)
`ccottage`, `cotage`, `cotatge`, `cottaeg`, `cottagge`, `cottgae`, `ctotage`, `octtage`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/cottage