n. [Ulf. renders οἰκία by gards and razn, and δωμα by hrôt, whereas hûs only occurs once in the compd gudhus = ἱερόν, John xviii. 20; in all other Teut. languages, old and new, hûs is the general word; A. S., O. H. G., Dan., and Swed. hûs; Engl. house; Germ. haus; Dutch huys]:—a house; hús eru þrjú í hvers manns híbýlum, … eitt er stofa, annat eldhús, þriðja búr, Grág. i. 459; leita nú um hvert hús á þeim bæ, 215, x. 270; þeir fara til bæjarins ok hlaupa þar inn í hús, Eg. 385; í næsta húsi, Ld. 318; af hverju húsi, from every house, Fms. x. 226; eitthvert mikit hús, Sks. 62; eitt fagrt hús, Fb. i. 467; at húsinu, nær dyrrum hússins, id.; bæn-hús, a prayer-house, chapel; söng-hús, a choir; eld-hús, fjós (fé-hús), hest-hús (qq. v.)

2. a house, family, rare in old writers; sonr húss, the son of the house, Rm. 11: freq. in eccl. writers, í húsi Heber, 625. 11; af annars-háttar ættum ok húsi, Stj. 246: freq. in the N. T., af húsi Davíðs, Luke ii. 4: a religious house, monastic order; af Prédikara húsi, from the house of the Preaching Friars, the Dominican order, Bs. passim.

3. a case = húsi (q. v.), corporale með hús, B. K. 84, Vm. 83, 189, Pm. 73, Rb. 358.

II. in pl. = bær, the group of buildings of which a house consists, built in a row, the front (hús-bust) facing the sea, or a river if in a dale, or looking south; the back (húsa-bak) turned to the mountain; the pavement along the front is in Icel. called stétt, the open place in front hlað, q. v.; the buildings are parted by a lane (sund, bæjar-sund); the whole surrounded by a wall, called húsa-garðr; a lane, called geilar or tröð, leads up to the houses and house-yard, see Eggert Itin. 22; distinction is made between bæjar-hús or heima-hús, the ‘home-houses,’ homesteads, or úti-hús, the out-houses, and fjár-hús, sheep-houses, which are at a distance from the homesteads; geymslu-hús, store-houses. That this was the same in olden times is borne out by the freq. use of the plur., even when referring to a single house (cp. Lat. aedes, tecta); konur skulu ræsta húsin ok tjalda, Nj. 175, 220; þeir sóttu at húsunum, 115; þeir hlaupa upp á húsin, Eb. 214; biðjast húsa, skipta húsum, ráða sínum húsum, N. G. L. i. 109; hér milli húsa, Ld. 204; taka hús (pl.) á e-m, to take a person by surprise in his houses, Fms. viii. 172; inni í húsum, Sturl. i. 181; þeir stigu af baki fyrir sunnan húsin … ok gengu þá í einum dun heldr hljóðliga heim at húsum, iii. 185; varð þá brátt reykr mikill í húsunum, 189; tóku þá húsin mjök at loga, 186; nú tóku at loga öll húsin, nema elda-hús brann eigi ok litla-stofa ok skyrbúr, 191; þar vóru öll hús mjök vönduð at smíð, 193; hann hljóp upp á húsin ok rifu þakit, 218; rofin húsin yfir þeim, 220. Passages in the Sagas referring to buildings are very numerous: for Iceland, esp. in Sturl. 4. ch. 33, 50, 5. ch. 3–8, 6. ch. 31, 32, 35, 9. ch. 1–5, 8, 20, 52, Nj. ch. 34, 48, 78, 80, 117, 128–133, 137, Gísl. 28 sqq., Dropl. 28 sqq., etc.; for the Orkneys, Orkn. ch. 18, 33, 34, 70 (interesting), 105, 113, 115; for Norway, Eg., Hkr., Ó. H. passim.

COMPDS:

I. in plur., húsa-bak, n. the back of the houses; at húsa baki. húsa-búnaðr, m. = búsbúnaðr, Ó. H. 175. húsa-bær, m. buildings, farms, Rm. (prose), Nj. 130; mikill húsabær, Orkn. 244; góðr h., Fms. xi. 192, Fas. iii. 20; lítill h., Ó. H. 152. húsa-garðr, m. = húsabær, the yard-wall, Nj. 120, v. l. húsa-gras, n. herbs growing on a house roof, such as house-leek, Stj. 644. húsa-hagi, a, m. home pasture, Gþl. 404. húsa-kostr, m. lodgings, a means of dwelling, Ísl. ii. 139. húsa-kot, n. a cottage, Sturl. ii. 50, Ó. H. 152. húsa-kynni, n. a dwelling; mikil, góð húsakynni, Bs. i. 700, Fms. ii. 84; h. ok borðbúnaðr, Ó. H. 175. húsa-leiga, u, f. house rent, Barl. 194. húsa-mót, n. pl. the joining of buildings, Sturl. ii. 59, Fms. ix. 24. húsa-skildagi, a, m. a contract for the tenure of a house, Gþl. 330. húsa-skipan, f. the order, arrangement of buildings, Gísl. 28, Eg. 235, Post. 656 B. 8. húsa-skipti, n. a sharing of houses, Gþl. 341. húsa-skjól, n. house shelter. húsa-skygni, n. a ‘house-shed,’ shelter, Stj. 121. húsa-smiðr, m. a house-wright, Post. 153. húsa-smíð, f. house-building, Post. húsa-snotra, u, f. a ‘house-neat,’ house-cleaner; the exact meaning of this word is dubious; Finn Magnusson suggested a broom: the word only occurs in Fas. ii. (see hnísa) and in Fb. i. 548 (Symb. 14, Ant. Amer. 291); the latter instance is esp. interesting, as the ‘house-neat’ which is there mentioned (about A. D. 1002) was made from an American tree. húsa-staðr, m. a house-stead, the site of a building, Post. húsa-timbr, n. house timber. húsa-torf, n. house turf for walls and roof, Dipl. v. 5. húsa-tópt, f. house walls, without the roof, Lat. rudera, Fs. 158 (a local name). húsa-umbót, f. house repairs, Jb. 215. húsa-viðr, m. house timber, Grág. i. 200, Nj. 82 (v. l.), Ld. 32, Bs. i. 144. húsa-vist, f. abiding, an abode, Fb. ii. 456.

II. in local names, Húsa-fell, Húsa-garðr, Húsa-vaðill, Húsa-vík, Landn., Dipl. i. 7: Hús-víkingr, Hús-fellingr, m. a man from H.