storey

storey — noun

1. one of the different levels that make up a building, with each level built above

1.nounB1
Definition

one of the different levels that make up a building, with each level built above the one below — for example, the ground floor or the top floor of a block of flats.

Example

The central library has a quiet reading room on the third storey.

on the [ordinal] storey — preposition pattern

Ishaan lives on the top storey of a high-rise building in Seoul.

top storey — collocation for uppermost level

Common collocations
  • top storey
  • upper storeys
  • lower storeys
  • ground storey
  • first / second / third storey
  • single-storey building
  • multi-storey car park
  • add a storey
  • occupy a storey
Synonyms
  • floor

    the most common everyday word for a level of a building; 'floor' can also mean the surface you walk on, while 'storey' only refers to the level as a unit

  • level

    more general term, used for buildings, car parks, or any multi-tiered structure

  • deck

    used for ships, buses, and some platform structures, but not typical for ordinary buildings

Grammar Patterns

on + [ordinal] + storey

[number]-storey + building (attributive)

Usage Note

Used mainly in British English; the US spelling is 'story' (same pronunciation). When describing how many levels a building has, the attributive compound is very common: a three-storey house (not 'a three-storeys house').

Common Mistakes

She told me an interesting storey about her trip.
She told me an interesting story about her trip.
'Storey' means a building level; 'story' means a tale or account.
A seven-storeys building collapsed in the storm.
A seven-storey building collapsed in the storm.
In the compound form, 'storey' stays singular even though it refers to multiple levels.

Word family

  • storeyed
    adjectiveB2
  • multi-storey
    adjectiveB1
  • single-storey
    adjectiveB1

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Storey, floor, level, and deck all refer to a horizontal division of a building or structure, but they differ in context and register. Floor is the most general and widely used word in everyday speech: you say 'I live on the fifth floor' regardless of whether you are in the UK or the US. Storey is the British spelling preferred in formal or written descriptions of a building's height ('a three-storey house') and is especially common in architecture and property listings; its US counterpart is 'story'. Level is more neutral and technical, often used for multi-level car parks, shopping centres, or underground structures ('the lower-ground level'). Deck is restricted to ships, double-decker buses, and some outdoor platform structures ('the upper deck of the bus'). In practice, a UK estate agent might say a house has 'two storeys', while a Canadian neighbour would say it has 'two stories' — the choice is regional, not semantic.

floor ↗level ↗deck ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Phrases

  • on the top storey
  • on the ground storey
  • from storey to storey

Prepositions

Etymology

Anglo-NormanLatinEnglish

The word 'storey' comes from Anglo-Norman 'estore', meaning a building or a floor of a building. It is related to the Latin 'historia' (story/history) — medieval buildings were sometimes decorated with rows of windows showing historical scenes, so each level of windows became associated with a 'story' being told. The British spelling 'storey' was later adopted to distinguish the building sense from 'story' (a tale).