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cab·in (kăbĭn)
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n.
1. A small, roughly built house or shelter.
2. Nautical
a. A room in a ship used as living quarters by an officer or passenger.
b. An enclosed compartment in a boat that serves as a shelter or as living quarters.
3. The enclosed space in an aircraft or spacecraft for the crew, passengers, or cargo.
tr. & intr.v. cab·ined, cab·in·ing, cab·ins
To confine or live in or as if in a small space or area.
[Middle English caban, from Old French cabane, from Old Provençal cabana, from Late Latin capanna.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2020 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
 

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

    Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

    Indo-European Roots

    Semitic Roots

    The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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