home

1 of 4

noun

plural homes
1
a
: one's place of residence : domicile
has been away from home for two weeks
a place to call home
b
: house
several homes for sale in the area
2
: the social unit formed by a family living together
trying to make a good home for their children
comes from a loving home
3
a
: a familiar or usual setting : congenial environment
also : the focus of one's domestic attention
home is where the heart is
b
: habitat
the home of the kangaroo
The island is home to many species of birds.
4
a
: a place of origin
salmon returning to their home to spawn
also : one's own country
having troubles at home and abroad
b
: headquarters sense 2
home of the dance company
5
: an establishment providing residence and care for people with special needs
homes for the elderly
6
: the objective in various games
especially : home plate

home

2 of 4

adverb

1
: to or at one's place of residence or home (see home entry 1 sense 1a)
told the dog to go home
stayed home all day
2
a
: to a final, closed, or ultimate position
drive a nail home
b
: to or at an ultimate objective (such as a goal or finish line)
fired the puck home
3
: to a vital sensitive core
the truth struck home

home

3 of 4

adjective

1
: of, relating to, or being a place of residence, place of origin, or base of operations
the company's home office
2
: prepared, done, or designed for use in a home (see home entry 1)
home remedies
home cooking
a home entertainment system
3
: operating or occurring in an area that is a headquarters or base of operations
the home team
home games

home

4 of 4

verb

homed; homing

intransitive verb

1
: to go or return to one's place of residence or origin : to go or return home (see home entry 1)
let us home
2
of an animal : to return accurately to one's native area of place of birth or origin from a distance : to return home
The salmon will home to spawn.
3
: to move to or toward an objective by following a signal or landmark
usually used with on or in
missiles homing in on a target
mariners … sought the dark spires of Oakland's redwoods to home onJ. W. Noble
4
: to proceed or direct attention toward an objective
science is homing in on the mysterious human processSam Glucksberg

transitive verb

: to send to or provide with a home
hidden pools and much wider creeks each of which homed its cranesI. L. Idriess
Phrases
at home
1
: relaxed and comfortable : at ease
felt completely at home on the stage
2
: in harmony with the surroundings
3
: on familiar ground : knowledgeable
teachers at home in their subject fields
home free
: out of jeopardy : in a comfortable position with respect to some objective

Examples of home in a Sentence

Noun Right now his home is a small apartment. People are concerned about protecting their homes. They have a second home on the lake. There's no place like home. I must have left my notes at home. She made a good home for her husband and children. The islands are home to many species of birds. Can you find homes for these files in your office? Adverb She called home to say she would be late for dinner. He's sending money home from a job overseas. She is on her way home. It's great to be back home. I can't wait to come home. He used a hammer to drive the nail home. Adjective She has a happy home life. Please give us your home phone number. What is your home address? The team opens its home season in just two weeks. See More
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
The incident came to light earlier this week when a home security video posted on TikTok went viral. Christine Pelisek, Peoplemag, 20 Sep. 2023 There’s deep clarity and humanity in the way the home’s winding interior path guides you through space, the light shifting as a seemingly cold sculpture becomes a soothing, enveloping cocoon. Suleman Anaya Fabian Martinez, New York Times, 20 Sep. 2023 New York — Ed Ruscha, born in Omaha, Neb., in 1937, grew up in a devoutly Roman Catholic home. Christopher Knight, Los Angeles Times, 20 Sep. 2023 It is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan but is home to around 120,000 ethnic Armenians, who make up the majority of its population and reject Azerbaijan’s rule. Tim Lister, CNN, 20 Sep. 2023 Her death triggered a series of anti-Sikh riots, in which Hindu mobs went from house to house across northern India, particularly New Delhi, pulling Sikhs from their homes, hacking many to death and burning others alive. Time, 20 Sep. 2023 Regardless of square footage, having a versatile home is really key. Abby Wilson, Better Homes & Gardens, 20 Sep. 2023 Along with blocks of homes, these neighborhoods lost churches, parks and small businesses – vital institutions in often already economically depressed areas. Mark Nichols, ABC News, 20 Sep. 2023 No injuries were reported, but the wine may have entered a home's basement, according to the distiller and Portuguese news platform Jornal Diário de Aveiro. Dennis Romero, NBC News, 12 Sep. 2023
Adverb
We were sent home with painkillers and discharge paperwork. Kevin Farron, Outdoor Life, 21 Sep. 2023 Guests walked home with gift bags filled with Glossier products. Michelle Lee, Peoplemag, 21 Sep. 2023 Cloud, born Conor Angus Cloud Hickey, died on July 31 at his family home in Oakland. Alexandra Del Rosario, Los Angeles Times, 21 Sep. 2023 Philip Paxson was following Google Maps directions while driving home late at night in September 2022 from his daughter’s 9th birthday party when the navigation system directed him to go over an unmarked and unbarricaded bridge that had collapsed years prior, the suit filed Tuesday states. Jamiel Lynch, CNN, 21 Sep. 2023 First, a Soyuz capsule — the Russian spacecraft that had brought Rubio to the ISS last September — sprung a coolant leak in mid-December, jeopardizing his ride home. Daniel Wu, Washington Post, 21 Sep. 2023 Residents recorded videos of the water level rising, then returned home to dry off and sleep as the night got darker and wetter. Ziad Jaber, NBC News, 21 Sep. 2023 The weekly show currently airs on Fox but will move to its new network home in October 2024 when the Fox deal expires. Joe Otterson, Variety, 21 Sep. 2023 The suit alleges that Paxson was following directions using Google Maps while driving through an unfamiliar neighborhood on the way home from his daughter's ninth birthday party. Aliza Chasan, CBS News, 20 Sep. 2023
Adjective
Four people lived in the building and one resident was not home when the fire started, Boyd said. Tess Williams, Anchorage Daily News, 13 Sep. 2023 While the catwalk is home to head-turning designer creations, Milan’s historic buildings and galleries are home to some of the most iconic artworks in the world. Connor Sturges, Condé Nast Traveler, 11 Sep. 2023 The former co-workers were not home when Cavalcante visited. Brittany Shammas, Washington Post, 10 Sep. 2023 The Hawaiian islands are home to paradise, both above and beneath the ocean's surface. Julia Jacobo, ABC News, 21 July 2023 The Rangers are home for only 10 games in May and have travel that will take them to four different time zones: Central (Kansas City and Minnesota on separate trips), Eastern (Philadelphia and Miami on separate trips), Mountain (Colorado) and Pacific (Oakland). Evan Grant, Dallas News, 13 July 2023 In the winter, Queenstown's mountains are home to epic skiing and snowboarding. Kathryn Romeyn, Travel + Leisure, 14 Mar. 2023 Discord is already home to many AI developers, including Midjourney, which has created an AI image generator accessed through its own Discord chat server. Tom Warren, The Verge, 9 Mar. 2023 The Astros were scheduled to play two home exhibition games and six regular season games at Minute Maid Park prior to April 9 — the earliest date on which the schedule will resume. Chandler Rome, Houston Chronicle, 14 Mar. 2020
Verb
An arrow combined with the eye of a batlike enemy might track enemies like a homing missile. Zachary Small, New York Times, 4 May 2023 The Air Force plans to spend $320 million buying 1,500 units of the 204-pound munition, designed to home in on moving ground targets regardless of weather conditions or time of day. Sébastien Roblin, Popular Mechanics, 9 Apr. 2023 Times like these provide an opportunity to home in on customers’ individual goals, values and motivations. Camille Nicita, Forbes, 8 Aug. 2022 Joy Fitzgerald, who just began her role at UnitedHealth but has also served in similar positions at Eli Lilly, wants to leverage the breadth of her experience and the data-gathering power of a health care giant with UnitedHealth's reach in order to home in on weak links in the medical supply chain. Sy Mukherjee, Fortune, 17 June 2021 This perverse programming created a Salmonella strain that could home in on the anoxic core of tumors, grow to high density, and release a highly localized dose of anti-tumor drug. Jeffrey Marlow, Discover Magazine, 26 Apr. 2017 That’s when the shelter took the unusual step of asking people not to relinquish their dogs but to try to keep them for a while longer or to re-home their pets themselves. Diane Bellcolumnist, San Diego Union-Tribune, 28 Jan. 2023 Ask candidates to complete a brief assignment designed to home in on skills. Jenny Xia Spradling, Forbes, 5 Oct. 2022 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'home.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English hom, hoome "dwelling, building, one's native town or land," going back to Old English hām "landed property, estate, dwelling, house, inhabited place, native land," going back to Germanic *haima- "dwelling" (whence also Old Saxon & Old Frisian hēm "home, dwelling," Middle Dutch heem, heim "dwelling," Old High German heima "dwelling, homeland," Old Norse heimr "abode, land, this world," Gothic haims "village, countryside, [in compounds] home"), of uncertain origin

Note: A widely accepted etymology sees Germanic *haima- as going back to Indo-European *ḱoi-mo, an o-grade derivative, with a suffix *-mo-, of the verbal base *ḱei- "lie, be at rest." Also from *ḱoi-mo- would be an assumed Greek *koímē or *koîmos "bed," the source of the denominal derivative koimáō, koimân "to put to bed, lay to rest" (see cemetery); further associated are Lithuanian šeimà "family, household members (including servants)," Latvian sàime, Russian Church Slavic sěmĭ "person," sěmija, translating Greek andrápoda "prisoners of war sold as slaves," sěminŭ "slave, household member," Russian sem'já "family," Ukrainian sim'já. (Lithuanian kiẽmas "farmstead, village" and káimas "village" are perhaps related, via a form with a centum outcome of ḱ, or as a loanword from Germanic.) According to an alternative hypothesis, Germanic *haima- goes back to Indo-European *tḱoi̯-mo-, a derivative with *-mo- from Indo-European *tḱei̯- "dwell, inhabit" (in a more traditional representation *ḱþei̯-; see amphictyony). Directly comparable would be Sanskrit kṣémaḥ "habitable," kṣémaḥ or -am (noun) "calm, quiet, safety," which within Sanskrit are direct derivatives from kṣéti "(s/he) dwells." The Baltic and Slavic forms cited above would then be attributable to this form.

Adverb

Middle English hom, going back to Old English hām, probably from accusative of hām "dwelling, home entry 1" (with parallel forms in other Germanic languages)

Adjective

from attributive use of home entry 1

Verb

derivative of home entry 1

First Known Use

Noun

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Adverb

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Adjective

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

1802, in the meaning defined at transitive sense

Time Traveler
The first known use of home was before the 12th century

Dictionary Entries Near home

Cite this Entry

“Home.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/home. Accessed 25 Sep. 2023.

Kids Definition

home

1 of 4 noun
1
a
: the house in which a person or family lives
2
: a family living together in one dwelling
3
: the place where something is usually or naturally found : habitat
the home of the elephant
4
a
: a place of origin
salmon returning to their home to spawn
b
: the country or place where one lives or where one's ancestors lived
5
: a place for the care of persons unable to care for themselves
old people's home
6
: the goal in some games
especially : home plate
homelike
-ˌlīk
adjective

home

2 of 4 adverb
1
: to or at home
went home
2
: to a final, closed, or standard position
drive a nail home
3
: deeply and meaningfully
the truth struck home

home

3 of 4 adjective
1
: of, relating to, or being a home
2
: prepared, done, or designed for use in a home
home cooking
3
: happening or operating in a home area
the home team

home

4 of 4 verb
homed; homing
1
: to go or return home
2
: to send to or provide with a home
Etymology

Noun

Middle English hom, from Old English hām "village, home"

Biographical Definition

Home 1 of 2

biographical name (1)

ˈhyüm How to pronounce Home (audio)
ˈhōm
Sir Alec Douglas- 1903–1995 British prime minister (1963–64)

Home

2 of 2

biographical name (2)

William Douglas- 1912–1992 brother of Alec Douglas-Home British dramatist

More from Merriam-Webster on home

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!