maisonnette

9.2

A small home on two floors with its own entrance often inside a larger building

noun
/ˌmeɪzəˈnɛt/

: maisonnette

She rented a charming maisonnette with bedrooms upstairs and a living area below.

Examples

The maisonnette has both a private entrance and a small garden.
She lives in a cozy maisonnette near the park.
They decided to downsize and moved into a modern maisonnette near the city center.
The new maisonnette is perfect for small families.
She rented a charming maisonnette with bedrooms upstairs and a living area below.
The maisonnette has both a private entrance and a small garden.
They decided to downsize and moved into a modern maisonnette near the city center.

Synonyms

apartment

vsmaisonnette

∞ 1.0

A set of rooms on one floor for one person or family in a building

is usually spread over two floors rather than a single floor

maisonette

vsmaisonnette

1 7.6

A small flat or house with its own private entrance, often in a larger building

is usually on two floors rather than an unspecified floor count

flatlet

vsmaisonnette

7.2

A very small place to live with one or two rooms for one person

is generally larger and often occupies two floors rather than one room

How Big

detached house

1 2.5

house

∞ 1.0

maisonnette

9.2

flat

122 1.0

studio

136 3.2

Surface Forms

maisonnette singular

maisonnettes plural

Morphology

maisonnette = maison + ette

The word is a direct borrowing from French (maison + diminutive -ette); 'maison' is not an English base, so the meaning is not transparently derivable for typical learners.

Etymology

Maisonnette comes from French maison meaning 'house' and the little ending -ette, like in kitchenette, which means 'small one'. So a maisonnette is literally a 'little house', which explains why it means a small, self-contained home often with its own entrance.