Garret

– Etymology
– Word entered Middle English through Old French with military connotation
– Connotation of watchtower, garrison, or billet
– Comes from Old French word “garir”
– Ultimately of Germanic origin meaning to provide or defend

– History
– Garrets defining features of Second Empire architecture in Paris
– Large buildings stratified socially between floors
– Number of stairs climbed inversely related to social status
– Garrets often internal elements of mansard roof
– Bow garret: two-story outhouse used in Lancashire for hat industry

– References
– Oxford Dictionary of English (2nd, revised ed.), Oxford University Press, 2009
– Mansard roof in architecture, Encyclopedia Britannica
– Denton bow garret becomes listed building, Manchester Evening News

– External Links
– Look up “garret” in Wiktionary, the free dictionary

Garret (Wikipedia)

This article is about a habitable attic. For people named Garret, see Garret (given name).

Not to be confused with Garratt locomotive.

A garret is a habitable attic, a living space at the top of a house or larger residential building, traditionally small with sloping ceilings. In the days before elevators this was the least prestigious position in a building, at the very top of the stairs.