houseplant

IPA/ˈhaʊsplɑːnt/
IPA/ˈhaʊsplænt/

houseplant — noun

  • houseplantsingular
  • houseplantsplural

1. a small plant that people keep in a pot indoors to make a room look nicer or fee

1.nounA2
Definition

a small plant that people keep in a pot indoors to make a room look nicer or feel fresher

Example

Gabriela put a leafy houseplant on the windowsill so it could catch the morning sun.

concrete noun shown with a typical care detail

Every houseplant in the office died while the staff were away for two weeks.

plural reference: every + houseplant + singular verb

Common collocations
  • water a houseplant
  • leafy houseplant
  • easy houseplant
  • repot a houseplant
Synonyms
  • pot plant

    more common in British English for the same thing

  • indoor plant

    broader two-word term, slightly more formal

Usage Note

Almost always countable; the plural 'houseplants' is common when talking about a collection. Distinguish from 'pot plant', which is the more usual term in British English.

Common Mistakes

I bought some houseplant for the living room.
I bought some houseplants for the living room.
'houseplant' is countable, so use the plural for more than one.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

All three refer to a plant grown inside a building rather than in a garden. 'Houseplant' (often written as one word in American English) is the everyday term in the US and is now widely understood everywhere; it suggests a plant kept mainly for decoration in a home. 'Pot plant' is the usual everyday word in British English and stresses that the plant lives in a container, though to some readers it can also hint at a plant grown outdoors in a pot. 'Indoor plant' is a slightly more formal, descriptive label often seen in shops and care guides, and it covers the same idea without sounding regional. For a learner, 'houseplant' is the safest neutral choice: 'Gabriela keeps three houseplants on her desk' sounds natural to almost any English speaker.

houseplant ↗pot plant ↗indoor plant

Common collocations

Nouns

  • houseplant care
  • houseplant pot

Phrases

  • a low-maintenance houseplant
  • a collection of houseplants

Etymology

Old EnglishEnglish

A straightforward compound of 'house' and 'plant'. English speakers joined the two ordinary words in the 1800s to name a plant kept inside the home rather than out in a field or garden, and the single-word spelling became standard as keeping plants indoors grew popular.