A garret is a habitable attic, a living space at the top of a house or larger residential building, traditionally, small, dismal, and cramped, with sloping ceilings. In the days before elevators this was the least prestigious position in a building, at the very top of the stairs.
Carl Spitzweg, The Poor Poet (Der arme Poet), 1839, depicting a garret room
Place Saint-Georges in Paris, showing top-floor garret windows
The word entered Middle English through Old French with a military connotation of watchtower, garrison or billet – a place for guards or soldiers to be quartered in a house. Like garrison, it comes from an Old French word garir of ultimately Germanic origin meaning "to provide" or "defend".[1]
History
In the later 1800s, garrets became one of the defining features of Second Empire architecture in Paris, France, where large buildings were stratified socially between different floors. As the number of stairs to climb increased, the social status decreased. Garrets were often internal elements of the mansard roof, with skylights or dormer windows.[2]
A "bow garret" is a two-story "outhouse" situated at the back of a typical terraced house often used in Lancashire for the hat industry in pre-mechanised days. "Bowing" was the name given to the technique of cleaning up animal (e.g. rabbit) fur in the early stages of preparation for turning it into hats. What is now believed to be the last bow garret in existence (in Denton, Greater Manchester) is now a listed building in order to preserve this historical relic.[3]
References
^Oxford Dictionary of English (2nd, revised ed.), Oxford University Press, 2009.
^Denton bow garret becomes listed building 2014-03-28 at the Wayback Machine, Manchester Evening News.
External links
The dictionary definition of garret at Wiktionary
Old maid in the garret (song)
April 15, 2023
garret, this, article, about, habitable, attic, people, named, given, name, confused, with, garratt, garret, habitable, attic, living, space, house, larger, residential, building, traditionally, small, dismal, cramped, with, sloping, ceilings, days, before, el. This article is about a habitable attic For people named Garret see Garret given name Not to be confused with Garratt A garret is a habitable attic a living space at the top of a house or larger residential building traditionally small dismal and cramped with sloping ceilings In the days before elevators this was the least prestigious position in a building at the very top of the stairs Carl Spitzweg The Poor Poet Der arme Poet 1839 depicting a garret room Place Saint Georges in Paris showing top floor garret windows Contents 1 Etymology 2 History 3 References 4 External linksEtymology EditThe word entered Middle English through Old French with a military connotation of watchtower garrison or billet a place for guards or soldiers to be quartered in a house Like garrison it comes from an Old French word garir of ultimately Germanic origin meaning to provide or defend 1 History EditIn the later 1800s garrets became one of the defining features of Second Empire architecture in Paris France where large buildings were stratified socially between different floors As the number of stairs to climb increased the social status decreased Garrets were often internal elements of the mansard roof with skylights or dormer windows 2 A bow garret is a two story outhouse situated at the back of a typical terraced house often used in Lancashire for the hat industry in pre mechanised days Bowing was the name given to the technique of cleaning up animal e g rabbit fur in the early stages of preparation for turning it into hats What is now believed to be the last bow garret in existence in Denton Greater Manchester is now a listed building in order to preserve this historical relic 3 References Edit Oxford Dictionary of English 2nd revised ed Oxford University Press 2009 Mansard roof architecture Encyclopedia Britannica Retrieved 2021 03 09 Denton bow garret becomes listed building Archived 2014 03 28 at the Wayback Machine Manchester Evening News External links Edit The dictionary definition of garret at Wiktionary Old maid in the garret song Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Garret amp oldid 1091978395, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
