How to spell dormitory

hear itdor·mi·to·ry/'dɔrmɪ,toʊri/nounPrefixes and work

What it means: A college building containing living quarters for students.

In a sentence: The students went to sleep in the big dormitory after a long day.

The part people get wrong

Often misspelled as dormitary or dormatory.

Same family: dorm, dormer, dormant, dormitory-life, residence-hall. If you can spell one, the shared part carries to the others.

Where it comes from: Dormitory comes from the Latin verb *dormire*, meaning “to sleep.” It literally began as a word for a “sleeping place” and is related to the word “dormant,” which describes something that is sleeping or inactive.

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