Meanings
greenhouse1
noungreenhouse (plural greenhouses)
plural greenhouses
- A building used to grow plants, particularly one with large glass windows or plastic sheeting to trap heat from sunlight even in intemperate seasons or climates.First known use 17th c.
The royal party had dined in the greenhouse, the coup d'œil of which was as striking as it was new. Vast stands of the most costly exotics reached to the glass roof, which was partly covered by a luxuriant vine, or by a small scarlet creeper.
1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, pages 54–55Synonyms: conservatory, glasshouse, plant-house
- IrelandslangA public toilet.First known use 20th c.
All kinds of places are good for ads. That quack doctor for the clap used to be stuck up in all the greenhouses.
1922 February 2, James Joyce, “[Episode 8: Laestrygonians]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company […], →OCLC, part II [Odyssey], page 145 - medicineA structure that shields the operating table to protect against bacteria.
Figure 2.6 shows the diagram Charnley published of the airflow in the 'greenhouse'; it can be seen that reasonable downward unidirectional airflow was achieved close to the operating table.
2010, William Whyte, Cleanroom Technology1 more example
The greenhouse system for providing a nearly bacteria-free operating environment consists of a 10 by 10-foot aluminum frame with plexiglass panes forming three sides and a polyvinyl curtain forming the fourth side. […] However, the greenhouse contains its own light supply, while this is an extra with the air curtain unit.
1972, Southern Hospitals, volumes 40-41, page 10
verbgreenhouse (third-person singular simple present greenhouses, present participle greenhousing, simple past and past participle greenhoused)
present singular third person greenhouses · participle present greenhousing · participle past greenhoused · past greenhoused
- transitiveTo place (plants) in a greenhouse.
Greenhouse2
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA building used to grow plants, particularly one with large glass windows or plastic sheeting to trap heat from sunlight even in intemperate seasons or climates.
More synonyms by meaning
nouna building with glass walls and roof; for the cultivation and exhibition of plants under controlled conditions
Similar
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
From green + house ("house for growing greens"), in reference to the produce grown within.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic دَفِيئَة زِرَاعِيّة, دَفِيئَة
- دَفِيئَة زِرَاعِيّة (dafīʔa zirāʕiyya)building in which plants are grown more quickly than outside
- دَفِيئَة (dafīʔa)building in which plants are grown more quickly than outside
- صُوبَة (ṣūba)building in which plants are grown more quickly than outside
Basque berotegi
- berotegibuilding in which plants are grown more quickly than outside
Bengali গ্রীনহাউস, আয়নাঘর
- গ্রীনহাউস (grinhaus)building in which plants are grown more quickly than outside
- আয়নাঘর (aẏnaghor)building in which plants are grown more quickly than outside
Bulgarian па́рник, оранже́рия
- па́рник (párnik)building in which plants are grown more quickly than outside
- оранже́рия (oranžérija)building in which plants are grown more quickly than outside
Catalan hivernacle
- hivernaclebuilding in which plants are grown more quickly than outside
Chinese Cantonese 溫室 /温室
- 溫室 /温室building in which plants are grown more quickly than outside
Chinese Mandarin 溫室 /温室
- 溫室 /温室 (wēnshì)building in which plants are grown more quickly than outside
Czech skleník
- skleníkbuilding in which plants are grown more quickly than outside
Danish drivhus
- drivhusbuilding in which plants are grown more quickly than outside
Dutch kas, serre
- kasbuilding in which plants are grown more quickly than outside
- serrebuilding in which plants are grown more quickly than outside
- broeikasbuilding in which plants are grown more quickly than outside
Esperanto forcejo, oranĝerio
- forcejobuilding in which plants are grown more quickly than outside
- oranĝeriobuilding in which plants are grown more quickly than outside
Estonian kasvuhoone
- kasvuhoonebuilding in which plants are grown more quickly than outside
Finnish kasvihuone
- kasvihuonebuilding in which plants are grown more quickly than outside
French serre
- serrebuilding in which plants are grown more quickly than outside
German Gewächshaus, Treibhaus
- Gewächshausbuilding in which plants are grown more quickly than outside
- Treibhausbuilding in which plants are grown more quickly than outside
- Glashausbuilding in which plants are grown more quickly than outside
Greek θερμοκήπιο
- θερμοκήπιο (thermokípio)building in which plants are grown more quickly than outside
Hebrew חֲמָמָה
- חֲמָמָה (khamamá)building in which plants are grown more quickly than outside
Hindi ग्रीनहाउस, हरितगृह
- ग्रीनहाउस (grīnhāus)building in which plants are grown more quickly than outside
- हरितगृह (haritgŕh)building in which plants are grown more quickly than outside
Hungarian üvegház, melegház
- üvegházbuilding in which plants are grown more quickly than outside
- melegházbuilding in which plants are grown more quickly than outside
Icelandic gróðurhús, vetrargarður
- gróðurhúsbuilding in which plants are grown more quickly than outside
- vetrargarðurbuilding in which plants are grown more quickly than outside
- gróðurskálibuilding in which plants are grown more quickly than outside
Indonesian rumah kaca
- rumah kacabuilding in which plants are grown more quickly than outside
Irish teach gloine
- teach gloinebuilding in which plants are grown more quickly than outside
Italian serra
- serrabuilding in which plants are grown more quickly than outside
Japanese 温室, ハウス
- 温室 (onshitsu)building in which plants are grown more quickly than outside
- ハウス (hausu)building in which plants are grown more quickly than outside
Korean 온실
- 온실 (onsil)building in which plants are grown more quickly than outside
Latin hibernaculum, caldarium
- hibernaculumbuilding in which plants are grown more quickly than outside
- caldariumbuilding in which plants are grown more quickly than outside
Latvian siltumnīca
- siltumnīcabuilding in which plants are grown more quickly than outside
Lithuanian šiltnamis
- šiltnamisbuilding in which plants are grown more quickly than outside
Malay rumah hijau
- rumah hijaubuilding in which plants are grown more quickly than outside
Norwegian Bokmål drivhus, veksthus
- drivhusbuilding in which plants are grown more quickly than outside
- veksthusbuilding in which plants are grown more quickly than outside
Polish szklarnia
- szklarniabuilding in which plants are grown more quickly than outside
Portuguese viveiro, estufa
- viveirobuilding in which plants are grown more quickly than outside
- estufabuilding in which plants are grown more quickly than outside
Romanian seră
- serăbuilding in which plants are grown more quickly than outside
Russian тепли́ца, парни́к
- тепли́ца (teplíca)building in which plants are grown more quickly than outside
- парни́к (parník)building in which plants are grown more quickly than outside
- оранжере́я (oranžeréja)building in which plants are grown more quickly than outside
Scottish Gaelic taigh-ghlainne
- taigh-ghlainnebuilding in which plants are grown more quickly than outside
Slovak skleník
- skleníkbuilding in which plants are grown more quickly than outside
Spanish invernadero, invernáculo
- invernaderobuilding in which plants are grown more quickly than outside
- invernáculobuilding in which plants are grown more quickly than outside
- estufabuilding in which plants are grown more quickly than outside
Swedish växthus, drivhus
- växthusbuilding in which plants are grown more quickly than outside
- drivhusbuilding in which plants are grown more quickly than outside
Tagalog bahay-patubuan, bahay-pasibulan
- bahay-patubuanbuilding in which plants are grown more quickly than outside
- bahay-pasibulanbuilding in which plants are grown more quickly than outside
Tamil பசுமைக்குடில், பைங்குடில்
- பசுமைக்குடில் (pacumaikkuṭil)building in which plants are grown more quickly than outside
- பைங்குடில் (paiṅkuṭil)building in which plants are grown more quickly than outside
Thai เรือนกระจก
- เรือนกระจก (rʉʉan-grà-jòk)building in which plants are grown more quickly than outside
Turkish sera, limonluk
- serabuilding in which plants are grown more quickly than outside
- limonlukbuilding in which plants are grown more quickly than outside
- sobabuilding in which plants are grown more quickly than outside
Ukrainian тепли́ця, оранжере́я
- тепли́ця (teplýcja)building in which plants are grown more quickly than outside
- оранжере́я (oranžeréja)building in which plants are grown more quickly than outside
- парни́к (parnýk)building in which plants are grown more quickly than outside
Urdu گِرِین ہاؤُس, پَودا گَھر
- گِرِین ہاؤُس (girīn hāus)building in which plants are grown more quickly than outside
- پَودا گَھر (paudā ghar)building in which plants are grown more quickly than outside
- گَرْم خانَہ (garm xāna)building in which plants are grown more quickly than outside
- حَرارَت خانَہ (harārat xāna)building in which plants are grown more quickly than outside
- ہَرِیاوَل گَھر (hariyāval ghar)building in which plants are grown more quickly than outside
Vietnamese nhà kính
- nhà kínhbuilding in which plants are grown more quickly than outside
Welsh tŷ gwydr
- tŷ gwydrbuilding in which plants are grown more quickly than outside
Yiddish אָראַנזשעריי
- אָראַנזשעריי (oranzherey)building in which plants are grown more quickly than outside
Cite this entry
APA
greenhouse. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/greenhouse
MLA
“greenhouse.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/greenhouse. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “greenhouse,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/greenhouse.
Source: greenhouse on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.