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Glite Dictionary
pile dwelling

pile dwelling

8.0
A house built on wooden or stone posts that stands above water
  • noun
  • Specialized
translation icon : vivienda sobre pilotes
  • The museum features a full-scale replica of a traditional pile dwelling from the Bronze Age.

Examples

  • Many prehistoric communities in Europe were known to live in pile dwellings for protection and access to water.

  • The ancient pile dwelling was discovered last summer.

  • Archaeologists discovered the remains of a pile dwelling on the edge of the ancient lake.

  • Did you see the pile dwellings in Switzerland?

  • The ancient community built several pile dwellings along the lake to protect themselves from flooding.

  • Many pile dwellings were discovered during the archaeological dig, revealing how prehistoric people lived near water.

  • Visitors can explore the reconstructed pile dwelling to learn about the housing methods used by ancient cultures.

Synonyms

lake dwelling
vspile dwelling
8.8

A house or group of houses built on wooden posts at the edge of a lake long ago

is for houses on piles over or near any body of water

Surface Forms

pile dwelling singular
pile dwellings plural

Morphology

pile + dwelling

The meaning 'a house built on wooden or stone piles' is directly compositional from 'pile' (a structural column or support) + 'dwelling' (a place where people live). This productive noun–noun combination is non-idiomatic and parallels concepts like 'stilt house' in other languages, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents can readily infer the meaning.

Etymology

Pile dwelling comes from old houses set on wooden or stone posts over or beside water. The words show the parts: pile (a post pushed into the ground or lake) and dwelling ('a place to live'), so the phrase means 'a house built on piles near or over water'.