Dormitory

A dormitory (originated from the Latin word dormitorium, often abbreviated to dorm) is a building primarily providing sleeping and residential quarters for large numbers of people such as boarding school, high school, college or university students. In some countries, it can also refer to a room containing several beds accommodating people. The term "dorm" is often used in the US. However, within the residence life community, the official term "residence hall" is preferred. According to the University of Oregon, their facilities "provide not just a place to sleep, but also opportunities for personal and educational growth. Highly trained Residence Life staff and Hall Government officers support this objective by creating engaging activities and programs in each hall or complex." In the UK, the preferred term in the context of student housing is "halls", short for "halls of residence." In English-speaking Canada, the common term is "residence" or "res" for short. In Australia the terms "halls of residence" and "halls" are common, but "college" (or, more formally, "residential college") is also used in the cases of halls of residence that are named as such (e.g. Robert Menzies College, Trinity College, and Mannix College); residential colleges commonly have a Christian ethos. In United Kingdom usage, the word dormitory means a room containing several beds accommodating unrelated people. In the United Kingdom, this arrangement exists typically for pupils at a boarding school, travellers or military personnel, but is almost entirely unknown for university students. In United Kingdom usage, a building providing sleeping and residential quarters for large numbers of people is called a hall of residence (university students), house (members of a religious community or pupils at a boarding school), hostel (students, workers or travellers) or barracks (military personnel). In the United Kingdom, halls of residence almost entirely have single occupancy rooms, are almost always mixed sex, with residents being allocated to adjacent rooms regardless of sex.