housing
/ˈhaʊzɪŋ/noun, verb
housing is spelled H-O-U-S-I-N-G: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 59 times per million words in written English, the 1,758th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, housing means “The activity of enclosing something or providing a residence for someone” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of housing is housings.
How many letters and syllables are in housing?
| Letters | 7: H-O-U-S-I-N-G |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 59 times per million words; the 1,758th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is housing?
Housing appears 59 times per million words in written English, the 1,758th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce housing?
- /ˈhaʊzɪŋ/
- /ˈhaʊsɪŋ/
Housing has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-housing.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-housing2.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of housing
- housings plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does housing mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The activity of enclosing something or providing a residence for someone.
Housing of homeless families is a priority.
- 2
Residences, collectively.
She lives in low-income housing.
- 3
A mechanical component's container or covering.
The gears were grinding against their housing.
- 4
A cover or cloth for a horse's saddle, as an ornamental or military appendage; a saddlecloth; a horse cloth; in plural, trappings.
- 5
An appendage to the harness or collar of a harness.
- 6
The space taken out of one solid to admit the insertion of part of another, such as the end of one timber in the side of another.
- 7
A niche for a statue.
- 8
That portion of a mast or bowsprit which is beneath the deck or within the vessel.
verb
- 1
present participle and gerund of house
We are housing the company's servers in Florida.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate housing?
Wiktionary records one abbreviation of housing: Hous..
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Housing in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | logement , résidence |
| Spanish | alojamiento , vivienda |
| German | Wohnungen |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does housing come from?
From Middle English housynge, housinge, from housen (“to house, shelter; receive into one's house”), equivalent to house + -ing. Cognate with Scots housing (“housing”), Old Frisian hūsinge (whence Saterland Frisian Huzenge); compare also Dutch huizing, behuizing (“housing”), Low German husing, hüsing (“housing”), German Behausung (“housing”), Swedish inhysing (“housing”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).