WordGarden.ioresidence
B2Pronunciation
UK
- /rˈɛzɪdəns/
US
- /ˈrɛzɪdəns/
Meanings
Noun
the place where a person lives; a home or dwelling
the fact or status of living in a place, especially for legal or official purposes
Beyond the definition
Your residence is the place where you live on a regular basis. It may be a house, an apartment, a dorm room, or another place that serves as your home for a period of time. The word is more formal than "home" and often appears in official situations such as forms, addresses, or legal papers. A king may have a royal residence, and a student may live in a student residence or residence hall.
The word comes from the Latin residere, meaning "to sit down" or "settle." It usually suggests some stability. You would not normally call a place your residence if you stayed there only briefly, but you might use the term when filling out a driver's license form, a passport application, or a tax document.
The word "residence" refers to the place where someone lives. It means a home or dwelling, but it sounds more formal and official than the everyday word "home." In many cases, it points to the place where a person normally lives and is recognized as living for practical purposes such as mail, records, or government forms.
A residence can take many forms. It may be a house, an apartment, a condo, a dorm room, a mobile home, or another place used as a regular living space. A person does not need to own it. What matters is that it is the place where they live in an ongoing way. For example, a university student may treat a dorm room as a residence during the school year, even if their family home is somewhere else.
The word often appears in legal, administrative, and official settings. People may be asked to give their residence on a tax form, a license application, or voter registration documents. In these cases, the idea is not just any place where they have stayed, but the place that counts as their usual home at that time.
"Residence" can also be used for important or special homes. A president may live in an official residence. A royal family may have a summer residence or a winter residence. In these examples, the word suggests a recognized place of living, often with a public or formal role.
In tone, "residence" is less warm and personal than "home." "Home" often carries emotion, memory, and comfort, while "residence" focuses more on the fact of living in a particular place. It is the word you use when the place itself matters in a formal, legal, or descriptive way.
Examples
- 1
Official forms
Please state your country of residence on the form.
- 2
Government
The president's official residence is closed to the public on weekdays.
- 3
Moving abroad
After graduation, she took up residence in Berlin.
- Phrasetake up residence
begin living somewhere
- 4
Immigration status
He applied for permanent residence after working in Canada for five years.
- Domainpermanent residence
the legal right to live in a country long-term
More examplesFewer examples
- 5
Wealthy family
The castle was once the summer residence of a wealthy family.
See also
Forms and spellings
2 forms open this card.
Main spelling
- residencenoun
Forms
- residencespluralnoun