Meaning & use
maisonette
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountable
A small apartment, often on two floors, with its own entrance.
Grammar: Countable noun: you can say 'a maisonette' or 'two maisonettes'.
Patterns
- live in a maisonette
- a two-bedroom maisonette
- rent a maisonette
They bought a two-bedroom maisonette near the station.
We lived in a maisonette above a shop when I was a child.
The maisonette has its own front door and a small garden.
Word forms
| plural | maisonettes |
|---|
Common combinations
- a two-bedroom maisonette
- They are looking for a two-bedroom maisonette in a quiet area.
- live in a maisonette
- My aunt lives in a maisonette on the third floor.
- rent a maisonette
- It is cheaper to rent a maisonette than a house in this city.
- a first-floor maisonette
- The first-floor maisonette has a balcony overlooking the park.
Synonyms and how they differ
Word family
- maisonette noun
- The only common form; there is no verb or adjective from this word.
Commonly confused: maisonette or mansion? maisonette or maison?
maisonette vs mansion
A mansion is a very large and impressive house, while a maisonette is a small apartment. The words look similar but mean very different things.
maisonette vs maison
A French word meaning 'house'; it is not used in English for a home.
Practice
They live in a small _____ with its own entrance on the ground floor.
Choose one answer.
'Maisonette' fits because it describes a small apartment with its own entrance. 'Mansion' means a very large house, which does not match 'small'.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “maisonette”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.