Dictionary

keeping room en · NOUN

Etymology

From keep, meaning abide.

Meanings

1. (New-England, UK, US, dated, dialectal) The main room of a house.
   • Taking to her bed is Baby Suggs's act of surrender; the keeping room becomes her final enclosure—she only leaves it after her death. 2011, Annette R. Federico, Gilbert and Gubar's The Madwoman in the Attic After Thirty Years:
   • The keeping room, where most of the cooking and living was once done, has five doors: one on either side of the fireplace, opening into each of the front parlors, one to a borning room on the west, one to a weaving room on the east, and one to a summer kitchen in back. 2006, Blue Balliett, Nantucket Ghosts, page 17:
   • The keeping room, with its large, open-hearth fireplace, served as her kitchen and main living area. 2004, Carla Neggers, Night Scents, page 10:
   • The keeping room became less utilitarian as kitchens, storage area, and bedrooms were added onto homes. 1998, Lisa Skolnik, ADL: American Country, page 31:

Forms