accommodation

accommodation — noun

1. rooms, flats, houses, hotels or other buildings where someone can sleep, live, o

1.nounB1
Definition

rooms, flats, houses, hotels or other buildings where someone can sleep, live, or spend the night.

Example

The university provides cheap accommodation for first-year students near the main campus.

accommodation for [people] + in/near [location]

Hotel accommodation in Tokyo gets very expensive during the cherry blossom season.

compound noun: hotel accommodation

Common collocations
  • cheap accommodation
  • affordable accommodation
  • student accommodation
  • rented accommodation
  • temporary accommodation
  • hotel accommodation
  • shortage of accommodation
Synonyms
  • lodging

    more formal; often refers to a temporary place to sleep

  • housing

    broader; refers to the supply of homes for a population

  • rooms

    plain everyday word for a place to stay in a hotel or house

Grammar Patterns

accommodation for [people]

accommodation in [place]

Usage Note

Uncountable in British English (do not say 'an accommodation' or 'accommodations' for places to live). American English often uses the plural 'accommodations' for hotel rooms or travel lodging.

Common Mistakes

I need to find an accommodation in London.
I need to find accommodation in London.
uncountable in British English; no 'an'.
The hotel has comfortable accommodation's.
The hotel has comfortable accommodation.' / 'The hotel has comfortable accommodations.
only American English uses the plural form.

2. the seats, beds, or cabins offered to passengers on a long train, ship, or plane

2.noun
Definition

the seats, beds, or cabins offered to passengers on a long train, ship, or plane journey.

Example

The night train to Bangkok offers sleeping accommodation in private four-bed cabins.

compound: sleeping accommodation on a train

First-class accommodation on the cruise ship includes a balcony and a small sitting area.

first-class / second-class accommodation on [ship]

Common collocations
  • sleeping accommodation
  • first-class accommodation
  • passenger accommodation
  • berth accommodation
Synonyms
  • berth

    a specific bed on a ship or train; narrower than 'accommodation'

  • cabin

    a small private room on a ship or plane

  • seating

    used for planes and short journeys; refers only to seats, not beds

Grammar Patterns

accommodation on [vehicle]

Usage Note

Distinguish from sense 1: this sense always refers to space on a moving vehicle (train, ship, plane), not to buildings on land. Often appears with a class label (first-class, sleeping, economy).

3. a deal that two sides with different views work out so that each one gets part o

3.noun
Definition

a deal that two sides with different views work out so that each one gets part of what they want, or the act of working out such a deal.

Example

After three days of talks, the union and management finally reached an accommodation over weekend pay.

reach an accommodation over [issue]

Diplomats from both countries are searching for a peaceful accommodation on the border dispute.

accommodation on [issue]

Common collocations
  • reach an accommodation
  • come to an accommodation
  • work out an accommodation
  • peaceful accommodation
  • political accommodation
Synonyms
  • compromise

    more common in everyday speech; same idea of mutual concession

  • settlement

    stronger; suggests the dispute is fully closed

  • agreement

    broader; not necessarily after a disagreement

Antonyms
  • deadlock

    a state where no compromise can be reached

  • stalemate

    neither side can move forward

Grammar Patterns

accommodation between [parties]

reach an accommodation with [someone]

Usage Note

Frequently used with 'reach', 'come to', or 'work out'. Distinguish from sense 4: this sense is a negotiated deal between disagreeing parties; sense 4 is a one-sided adjustment for someone with special needs.

Common Mistakes

They made an accommodation about the price.
They reached an accommodation about the price.
the natural verbs are 'reach', 'come to', or 'work out', not 'make'.

4. a change to the way something is normally done, made to help someone whose situa

4.noun
Definition

a change to the way something is normally done, made to help someone whose situation is different from most other people's.

Example

The school made several accommodations for Lior, including extra time on tests and a quiet exam room.

make accommodations for [person]

Reasonable accommodations for disabled employees may include ramps, screen readers, or flexible hours.

fixed phrase: reasonable accommodations

Common collocations
  • reasonable accommodations
  • make accommodations
  • provide accommodations
  • special accommodations
  • workplace accommodations
Synonyms
  • adjustment

    common in British workplace law: 'reasonable adjustments'

  • concession

    implies giving up something; less neutral than 'accommodation'

  • allowance

    informal; a relaxation of the usual rules

Grammar Patterns

accommodations for [person/group]

make accommodations

Usage Note

Almost always plural in this sense, especially in legal and HR contexts ('reasonable accommodations'). Subject is usually an institution (school, employer, airline) and the beneficiary is one person or a small group.

Common Mistakes

The company gave him an accommodation of a standing desk.
The company provided an accommodation: a standing desk.' / 'The company made accommodations, including a standing desk.
use 'make' or 'provide', and avoid 'an accommodation of' + thing.

5. the way the lens inside the eye changes thickness so that things at different di

5.noun
Definition

the way the lens inside the eye changes thickness so that things at different distances look sharp.

Example

As people grow older, the eye loses its power of accommodation and reading print becomes harder.

power of accommodation

Dr. Wen explained that accommodation lets the eye switch quickly from a near book to a distant window.

Common collocations
  • power of accommodation
  • loss of accommodation
  • range of accommodation
  • ocular accommodation
Synonyms
  • focusing

    everyday word for the same process

  • adaptation

    broader; covers all eye changes, not just lens shape

Usage Note

Technical biology term. Subject of the verb 'lose' or 'reduce' in this sense is almost always 'the eye' or 'a patient'. Often appears in fixed phrases: 'power of accommodation', 'range of accommodation', 'loss of accommodation'.

6. in linguistics, when a speaker shifts their accent, vocabulary, or rhythm to sou

6.noun
Definition

in linguistics, when a speaker shifts their accent, vocabulary, or rhythm to sound more like whoever they are chatting with.

Example

Sociolinguists call this kind of accommodation 'convergence' — speakers move closer to each other's accent.

linguistic term: accommodation = convergence/divergence

Mei noticed her accent shifting through accommodation whenever she chatted with her Glasgow cousins.

Common collocations
  • speech accommodation
  • linguistic accommodation
  • communication accommodation theory
Synonyms
Antonyms
  • divergence

    moving away from another speaker's style on purpose

Usage Note

Specialist sociolinguistics term, often paired with 'convergence' (moving toward) or 'divergence' (moving away). Distinguish from sense 7: this sense is the social behaviour of style-shifting, while sense 7 is a phonetic process inside individual words.

7. in phonetics, a small change to a speech sound caused by whichever sound sits ri

7.noun
Definition

in phonetics, a small change to a speech sound caused by whichever sound sits right beside it inside a word.

Example

Through accommodation, the 'n' in 'input' often shifts to an 'm' sound before the 'p'.

accommodation between adjacent consonants

Phoneticians study accommodation to explain why fast speech sounds different from careful speech.

Common collocations
  • phonetic accommodation
  • vowel accommodation
  • consonant accommodation
Synonyms

Usage Note

Highly specialist phonetics term. Distinguish from sense 6: sense 6 is about the speaker matching another person's style, while sense 7 happens inside a single word as one sound pulls a neighbouring sound closer to itself.

Word family

  • accommodate
    verbB2
  • accommodating
    adjectiveC1
  • accommodative
    adjectiveC2

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

All four words name a place where people sleep, but they sit at different points on the formality and duration scales. 'Accommodation' is the everyday British noun for any paid place to stay — a hotel, hostel, dorm, or rented flat — and is by far the most common in travel and university contexts. 'Lodging' is more formal and slightly old-fashioned, often suggesting a temporary room rented in someone else's home, as in 'board and lodging'. 'Housing' is bigger in scale: it talks about the supply of homes for a population, especially in policy debates ('affordable housing', 'public housing'). 'Shelter' is the most basic — a covered space that simply protects people from cold or danger, used for emergency situations or homelessness. Compare: 'The hotel offers comfortable accommodation' (paid, comfortable), 'They were given lodging in a guest house' (formal, temporary), 'The city needs more affordable housing' (large-scale supply), 'The volunteers found shelter for the flood victims' (urgent, basic protection).

accommodation ↗lodginghousing ↗shelter ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

  • accommodation shortage
  • accommodation costs
  • accommodation provider
  • accommodation crisis

Phrases

  • find accommodation
  • provide accommodation
  • book accommodation
  • offer accommodation
  • share accommodation

Prepositions

  • accommodation for
  • accommodation in
  • accommodation on
  • accommodation with
  • accommodation between

Etymology

LatinFrenchEnglish

Borrowed from Latin 'accommodare', formed from 'ad-' (meaning 'to') and 'commodus' (meaning 'fitting' or 'suitable'). It entered English through French in the late sixteenth century with the broad sense of 'something fitted to a need'. From this central idea of 'fitting things together' English later developed three distinct strands: a place fitted for a person to stay (sense 1, late 1600s), a deal fitted to two opposing sides (sense 3), and the eye or speech adjusting itself to fit the moment (the technical senses).