Definition of the word apartment house

The term "apartment house" has its roots in the late 19th century, as urbanization and the rise of industrialization led to a need for affordable housing for the growing urban population. Prior to this time, most housing units consisted of freestanding houses or rowhouses that provided accommodation to a single family. In 1868, a German architect named Georg von Chrystler coined the phrase "dielenhaus" to describe a building that offered multiple separate living spaces. This German term translates to "divided house" and was used to describe dwellings that were built with multiple apartments or flats that shared common corridors and facilities, such as stairways and elevators. In the United States, the term "apartment house" gained popularity in the late 1880s as developers began building large residential buildings with multiple units. The term was preferred over "tenement house" because it suggested a broader range of housing units, including larger, more luxurious apartments, whereas "tenement house" was associated with crowded, insanitary living conditions. Over time, the term "apartment building" replaced "apartment house" as the preferred term in the United States, with "apartment" alone used as a general term to describe a residential unit within such a building. However, the term "apartment house" is still commonly used in some parts of the world, particularly in British English, where it is often shortened to "apartmant" or "apartments".