housewarming
HAUWS-wawr-ming
/ˈhaʊswɔːmɪŋ/
A party celebrating a move to a new home.
Typically informal, involving friends and family bringing small gifts to help set up or decorate the new living space.
The story behind the word. Literally a compound of 'house' and 'warming'. Historically, guests would gather at a newly built house and bring firewood. They would light fires in all the hearths, which physically warmed the cold, unheated house and symbolically drove away any lingering evil spirits.
Word relationships
- welcome-home party: A welcome-home party celebrates someone returning from a long trip, whereas a housewarming celebrates moving into a brand-new residence.
Commonly confused with
- homesteading: Homesteading is the lifestyle of self-sufficiency and farming on a piece of land, while housewarming is just a celebratory party for a new home.
Collocations
- housewarming party
- housewarming gift
- host a housewarming
- housewarming present
Example sentences
- "We are hosting a casual housewarming this Saturday to show off our new apartment and share some pizza." Inviting friends to a new apartment.
- "She brought a beautiful potted plant as a housewarming gift to wish them luck in their new suburban home." A traditional gift for a new home.
Memory hook
Picture your friends literally bringing logs of wood to 'warm' up your cold new 'house'. Warming up a new house with friends and fire.
When not to use
Do not use for general parties, anniversaries, or office-opening events; it is strictly for residential moves.
Fun facts
- In France, a housewarming is called 'pendaison de crémaillère', which literally means 'hanging of the chimney hook'—referring to the first hot meal cooked in the new fireplace.
Related words
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