Housemate
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One who dwells in the same house with another. R. Browning.
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This term, commonly used by college-age students, is someone you share a house with (or, less commonly, an apartment).
These people were, to my knowledge, formerly known as roommates, in virtually all contexts.
Housemate seems to be merely one of the many trendy terms being tossed around these days.
Here are possible reasons for this word's existence:
A) Perhaps it's supposed to have less of the negative stigma that the word [roommate] seems to carry with it.
B) Also possible is that roommate implies a closer relationship/friendship than simply housemate.
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to have sex with a person who participates in community living.
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someone you live with in a house but are not related to and do not have a romantic or sexual relationship with
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