Abode

How to spell abode

5 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce abode

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does abode mean?

1. nounThe place where someone lives; a home or residence.

Abode in a sentence

• The tax form asks for your current abode and date of birth.

• After years of renting, they finally bought a permanent abode.

Where does abode come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

Abode began life as the past tense of the Old English verb abidan, meaning 'to wait for' or 'to remain', formed from the intensifying prefix a- and bidan, 'to bide or stay'. Because the verb carried the idea of staying put, the noun naturally drifted toward the sense of a place where one stays, and by the late 1500s 'abode' had settled into its modern meaning of a dwelling or home. The older verbal use survives faintly in poetry and in the phrase 'he abode there', though most adults now meet the word only as a slightly formal noun for a residence. It shares its root with the common verb 'abide' and with 'bide', as in 'bide your time', all of which trace back to the notion of waiting and remaining. The spelling is regular and phonetic, with the silent final 'e' lengthening the 'o', which keeps it from being a serious trap.

How the word is built

• a- (intensive prefix from Old English)
• bode (from bidan: to wait, stay)