long house

A form of longhouse — A long communal housing of the Iroquois and some other American Indians, the Malaysians, the Indonesians, the Vikings, and many other peoples.

Meanings

nounlong house (plural long houses)

plural long houses

  1. alternativeAlternative form of longhouse.

    The Kenyah village frequently consists of a single long house.

    1912, Hose & al., chapter IV, in Pagan Tribes of Borneo, volume I
    3 more examples

    They marched in under French Colours and were conducted into the Long House.

    1751, C. Gist, Journals, page 51

    One branch of this numerous people was seated on a beautiful river, known as the “Lonapewihittuck”, where the “long house,” or Great Council Fire, of the nation was universally admitted to be established.

    1826, [James Fenimore Cooper], “Preface”, in The Last of the Mohicans; a Narrative of 1757. […], volume I, Philadelphia, Pa.: H[enry] C[harles] Carey & I[saac] Lea— […], →OCLC, page vi

    The practice of herding together in ‘long houses’ prevents mental and moral improvement and hinders advance in gardening and planting and agricultural developement generally.

    1894 May 1, Sarawak Gazette, page 67
Cite this entry
APA

long house. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/long%20house

MLA

“long house.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/long%20house. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “long house,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/long%20house.

Source: long house on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.