hovel

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hovel

/ˈhɒvəl/ Canada, UK
/ˈhʌvəl/ Canada, UK
/ˈhɑvəl/ US
/ˈhʌvəl/ US
/ˈhɔvəl/ Australia, New Zealand
/ˈhɒvəl/ Australia, New Zealand
/ˈhɐvəl/ Australia, New Zealand
/ˈhavəl/ Australia, New Zealand

Rhymes with -ɒvəl, -ʌvəl

Where it comes from

From Middle English hovel, hovil, hovylle, diminutive of *hove, *hof (“structure, building, house”), from Old English hof (“an enclosure, court, dwelling, house”), from Proto-West Germanic *hof, from Proto-Germanic *hufą (“hill, farm”), from Proto-Indo-European *kewp- (“arch, bend, buckle”), equivalent to howf + -el. Compare Middle High German hobel (“cover, lid, covered wagon”).

Cognate with Dutch hof (“garden, court”), German Hof (“yard, garden, court, palace”), Icelandic hof (“temple, hall”). Related to hove and hover.

noun hovels

An open shed for sheltering cattle, or protecting produce, etc., from the weather.
derogatory A poor cottage; a small, mean house; a hut. 'Behold! once more I kiss thee, and by that kiss I give to thee dominion over sea and earth, over the peasant in his hovel, over the monarch in his palace halls, and cities crowned with towers, and those who breathe therein.'
Similar: shack, shanty
In the manufacture of porcelain, a large, conical brick structure around which the firing kilns are grouped.
Midwestern US, archaic, slang A straitjacket.

verb hovels · hoveling · hovelling · hoveled · hovelled

transitive To put in a hovel; to shelter. To hovel thee with swine, and rogues forlorn.
transitive To construct a chimney so as to prevent smoking, by making two of the more exposed walls higher than the others, or making an opening on one side near the top.

Translations

Every language

noun open shed

Español	recoveco
Deutsch	Unterstand
Italiano	riparo, ricovero, tettoia
Română	șopron
Русский	хлев xlev, амба́р ambár, сара́й saráj

noun poor cottage

Español	cuchitril, casucha, timberiche, tugurio
Português	barraco, casebre
Français	taudis
Deutsch	Bruchbude, Baracke
Italiano	stamberga, buco, fogna, bicocca, cesso, tugurio
Ελληνικά	χαμόσπιτο chamóspito
Română	cocioabă
Русский	хиба́ра xibára, лачу́га lačúga

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MLA

"hovel." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/hovel. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

hovel. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/hovel

Chicago

"hovel." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/hovel.

BibTeX

@misc{hovel_2026,
  title = {hovel},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/hovel},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}