live-in

/ˈlɪvˌɪn/

adjective

Living on the premises; usually said of a household employee or a domestic partner.

“A live-in maid is a true luxury, but even a maid once a week is great.”

Meanings

adjectivelive-in (not comparable)
  1. not comparableLiving on the premises; usually said of a household employee or a domestic partner.

    A live-in maid is a true luxury, but even a maid once a week is great.

    1 more example

    The Air Force veteran fatally shot by police during last week’s US Capitol riot had been in a “throuple” with her husband and their live-in girlfriend, according to reports.

    2021 January 14, Tamar Lapin, “Ashli Babbitt, Air Force vet killed at Capitol, was in a ‘throuple’”, in New York Post, retrieved 22 Jul 2021
nounlive-in (plural live-ins)

plural live-ins

  1. A household employee or domestic partner who lives on the premises of the employer or partner.

    30, Camb seeks one man lover 20-32: shd lke domestic evenings, books, edc people, travel. Possible live-in for right guy.

    1974 February 2, “ATTRAC, WELL OFF HARV-ED GWM (personal advertisement)”, in Gay Community News, volume 1, number 32, page 14
    1 more example

    […] but that doesn't stop families from hiring live-ins; nor does it stop newly arrived Latina migrant workers from taking jobs they urgently need.

    2001, Pierrette Hondagneu-Sotelo, Doméstica, page 31
  2. A firefighter who lives at the fire station.

Origin

  1. Middle Englishlefe
  2. Englishlive
  3. Proto-Indo-European*h₁én
  4. Proto-Germanic*in
  5. Proto-West Germanic*in
  6. Old Englishin
  7. Middle Englishin
  8. Englishin
  9. Englishlive-in

From live + in.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Polish zamieszkały na miejscu
  • zamieszkały na miejsculiving on the premises
Spanish puertas adentro, conviviente
  • puertas adentroliving on the premises
  • convivienteliving on the premises
  • internaliving on the premises
Cite this entry
APA

live-in. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/live-in

MLA

“live-in.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/live-in. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “live-in,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/live-in.

Source: live-in on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.