Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A domestic unit consisting of the members of a family who live together along with nonrelatives such as servants.
  • noun The living spaces and possessions belonging to such a unit.
  • noun A person or group of people occupying a single dwelling.
  • adjective Of, relating to, or used in a household.
  • adjective Commonly known; familiar.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun An organized family and whatever pertains to it as a whole; a domestic establishment.
  • noun A family considered as consisting of all those who share in the privileges and duties of a common dwelling; the family, including servants and other permanent inmates.
  • noun Goods and chattels for housekeeping.
  • noun plural A technical name among millers for the best flour made from red wheat, with a small portion of white wheat mixed.
  • Of or pertaining to the house and family; domestic; familiar: as, household furniture; household ways.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Belonging to the house and family; domestic
  • adjective [Obs.] bread made in the house for common use; hence, bread that is not of the finest quality.
  • adjective (Rom. Antiq.) the gods presiding over the house and family; the Lares and Penates; hence, all objects endeared by association with home.
  • adjective troops appointed to attend and guard the sovereign or his residence.
  • noun Those who dwell under the same roof and compose a family.
  • noun obsolete A line of ancestory; a race or house.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Collectively, all the persons who live in a given house; a family including attendants, servants etc.; a domestic or family establishment.
  • adjective Belonging to the same house and family.
  • adjective Of anything found in or having its origin in a home.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a social unit living together

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English houshold : hous, house; see house + hold, possession, holding (from Old English, from healdan, to hold; see hold).]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English houshold, equivalent to house +‎ hold. Cognate with Dutch huishouden ("household"), German Haushalt ("household"), Swedish hushåll ("household, family"), Norwegian husholdning ("household").

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Examples

  • It seems that the 'fairness' wonks get away with using 'household' based purely on irrelevant thesis, i.e., the fallacy that since, ultimately, the earner's (s ') income must support a * household*, that it's therefore the household's total income that "counts" for comparison purposes, not the individual earners'.

    The Skeptical Optimist 2008

  • These days, the major breadmaker in the household is yours truly, and though I don't have a ton more time on my hands than my mom did a couple years ago, I'm a little bit freer as to how I spend my leisure hours.

    One - A - Penny... Sarah 2009

  • Your bottom line might be going to bed an hour earlier so you can rise earlier to write while the rest of the household is asleep or to get some writing in before rushing to your day job.

    The Bottom Line « Write Anything 2009

  • The income of the household is attributed to each of its members, with an adjustment to reflect differences in needs for households of different sizes (i.e. the needs of a household composed of four people are assumed to be twice as large as those of a person living alone).

    Matthew Yglesias » Income and Distribution Comparisons 2010

  • These days, the major breadmaker in the household is yours truly, and though I don't have a ton more time on my hands than my mom did a couple years ago, I'm a little bit freer as to how I spend my leisure hours.

    Archive 2009-04-01 Sarah 2009

  • And of course the paramount thing in a household is the authority of the woman running it. '

    Rebellion 2008

  • And of course the paramount thing in a household is the authority of the woman running it. '

    Rebellion 2008

  • De-cluttering a household is a task that appeals strongly to today's professional-class woman.

    Leaving It to the Professionals 2002

  • Yes, I live with a fetish model and a fetish photographer, and the other member of the household is also part of the scene, but * I* am not.

    Cogitations And Other Processes Of The Steam-Powered Head archmage 2002

  • De-cluttering a household is a task that appeals strongly to today's professional-class woman.

    Leaving It to the Professionals 2002

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