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I realised i don’t know what the term is that corresponds to apartment building, but flat is just apartment right (ESL)? They’re usually just one floor in my experience, as opposed to regular houses which are usually two. Makes a lot of sense to me

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SkunkWorkz@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

flat(n.)

1801, “a story of a house,” from Scottish flat “floor or story of a house,” from Old English flett “a dwelling, hall; floor, ground,” from >Proto-Germanic *flatja-, from suffixed form of PIE root *plat- “to spread.”

The meaning “floor or part of a floor set up as an apartment” is from 1824. Directly from flat (adj.) come the senses “level ground >near water” (late 13c.; late 12c. in place-names); “a flat surface, the flat part of anything” (a sword, etc., late 14c.), and “low shoe” >(1834).

www.etymonline.com/word/flat

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