Meanings
plural portacabins · alternative port-a-cabin
- A prefabricated hut that is transportable, often used as an office or for storage.
It was a standard port-a-cabin, twenty by twelve feet, with two small beds at either end, two lockers, and a table and chair between them.
2005, Paul Carter, Don't Tell Mum I Work on the Rigs, Crows Nest: Allen and Unwin, page 552 more examples
At least I'm not in a portacabin. Whenever I find myself heading towards a peripheral portacabin, I experience the same visceral feeling that the French aristocrats had when they rode the tumbrels to Madame Guillotine.
2007, S.A.S.: Special Ace Supply (teacher), Quick Brown Fox Publication, →ISBN, page 11We have done our portacabin out with balloons, paper chains and “Support troop is One Step Beyond.” It looks all Christmassy, with the snow, it is quite good.
2009, Julian Beirne, Diary of a Sapper, Julian Beirne, →ISBN, page 298
Origin
From the trademark Portakabin, itself from portable cabin.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
portacabin. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/portacabin
“portacabin.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/portacabin. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “portacabin,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/portacabin.
Source: portacabin on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.