What Does Bungalow Mean?
A bungalow is a house with only one floor. It often has a low roof, and sometimes a small room in the roof space.
It is a noun, and you can count it: one bungalow, two bungalows.
Grandma lives in a small bungalow by the sea.
There are no stairs in a bungalow.
🔊 Pronunciation
BUNG-guh-loh
The stress is on the first part.
🗣️ Natural Examples
Our bungalow has a garden at the front.
They moved to a bungalow because Grandpa does not like stairs.
The street is full of neat little bungalows.
We rented a bungalow on our holiday.
A red bungalow stood at the end of the road.
🛠️ How to Use It
Bungalow is an everyday word, mostly in British English.
- It is a house, not a flat or an apartment.
- It is usually on one floor, but it can have a small upstairs room.
- Detached bungalow means it stands by itself.
- You can use it for a holiday home too: a beach bungalow.
🤝 Common Word Partners
- a small bungalow
- a detached bungalow
- a seaside bungalow
- a holiday bungalow
- buy a bungalow
- live in a bungalow
👯 Similar and Related Words
- cottage: a small house, often in the countryside.
- cabin: a small wooden house.
- house: any building where a family lives.
- flat / apartment: one home in a larger building.
⚠️ Common Mistakes
Spelling. The g is in the middle.
❌ bunglow, bungallow
✅ bungalow
Not a block of flats.
❌ We live in a bungalow on the fifth floor.
✅ We live in a flat on the fifth floor.
Say in.
❌ She lives at a bungalow.
✅ She lives in a bungalow.
💬 In a Conversation
Mia: Does your grandma live in a house?
Sam: A bungalow.
Mia: So no stairs?
Sam: None. She says the bungalow is for people who like their feet on the ground.
Mia: Smart grandma.
🕵️ Where Does It Come From?
The word comes from Hindi baṅglā and Urdu banglā, which meant "in the Bengal style". Merriam-Webster records the first English use in 1676.
It named a low house built in the style of Bengal, a region in South Asia. English later used it for any one-storey house, and sometimes for a house with one and a half storeys and a porch.
Like Pajamas and Jungle, bungalow came into English from India.
💡 The OddLingo Trick
Think of the Bengal style.
A bungalow is low and simple. The word remembers the place where that style of house began.