▪ I. cabin, n.
(ˈkæbɪn)
Forms: 4–7 cabane, 5–8 caban, 5 kaban, 5–7 cabon, 6 cabban, -ane, -aine, -on, -yn, caben, 6–8 cabbin, 7 cabben, cabbine, cabine, cabern, 7– cabin.
[ME. cabane, a. F. cabane (= Pr., Pg. cabana, Sp. cabaña, Cat. cabanya, It. capanna):—late L. capanna, in Isidore, ‘tugurium parva casa est; hoc rustici capanna vocant’; in Reichenau glosses 8th cent. cabanna. Mod.F. has cabine from Eng. in sense 5.]
† 1. a. A temporary shelter of slight materials; a tent, booth, temporary hut. Obs.
| ? a 1400 Morte Arth. 3099 Cabanes coverede for kynges anoyntede With clothes of clere golde for knyghtez and oþer. 1581 Marbeck Bk. of Notes 148 They made with pretie boughs and twigs of trees, such little pretie lodgings as we call Cabens or Boothes. 1601 Shakes. Twel. N. i. v. 287 Make me a willow Cabine at your gate. a 1649 Drummond of Hawthornden Hist. Jam. IV, Wks. (1711) 76 Cabanes raised of boughs of trees and reeds. 1857–69 Heavysege Saul 237 From the wilderness there comes a blast, That casts my cabin of assurance down. |
† b. spec. A soldier's tent or temporary shelter.
| ? a 1400 Morte Arth. 733 Tentez and othire toylez, and targez fulle ryche, Cabanes and clathe sokkes. 1553 Brende Q. Curtius B b j, There fell sodainlie a great storme..within their cabbaines, which so moche afflicted the Souldiours..that, etc. 1598 B. Jonson Ev. Man in Hum. iii. vii, The Courts of Princes..the Cabbins of Soldiers. 1653 Holcroft Procopius ii. 67 The Persians..fell among their Cabbins, and were rifling the camp. |
2. a. A permanent human habitation of rude construction. Applied
esp. to the mud or turf-built hovels of slaves or impoverished peasantry, as distinguished from the more comfortable ‘cottage’ of working men, or from the ‘hut’ of the savage, or temporary ‘hut’ of travellers, explorers, etc.
| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 57 Caban, lytylle howse, pretoriolum, capana. 1566 Painter Pal. Pleas. I. 98 He dwelt alone in a little cabane in the fieldes not farre from Athenes. 1570 Levins Manip. 163 A cabbon, gurgustium. 1587 Fleming Contn. Holinshed III. 1356/1 Being taken in his cabbin by one of the Irishrie. 1618 Sir R. Boyle in Lismore Papers (1886) I. 196 To give her a Room to bwyld her a cabben in. 1670 G. H. Hist. Cardinals i. iii. 65 Not a Mendicant..could be perswaded to leave his Cabane. 1691 Petty Pol. Anat. 9 There be [in Ireland] 160,000 Cabins without Chimneys. 1729 G. Shelvocke Artillery iv. 255 The Cabbin of Romulus was only thatched with Straw. a 1745 Swift Wks. (1841) II. 78 The wretches are forced to pay for a filthy cabin and two ridges of potatoes treble the worth. 1794 Sullivan View Nat. II. 369 An extensive country covered with cabans. 1832 H. Martineau Ireland i. 1 A mud cabin here and there is the only vestige of human habitation. 1850 Mrs. Stowe (title) Uncle Tom's Cabin. |
b. Used rhetorically for ‘poor dwelling’.
| 1598 B. Jonson Ev. Man in Hum. i. v. (1616) 16 Possesse no gentlemen of our acquaintance, with notice of my lodging..Not that I need care who know it, for the Cabbin is conuenient. 1607 Dekker Sir T. Wyatt Wks. 1873 III. 101 A simple Cabin, for so great a Prince. |
† 3. a. A cell:
e.g. of an anchorite or hermit, in a convent or prison; a cell of a honeycomb.
Obs.| 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. xii. 35 Clergy in to a caban crepte. 1387 Trevisa Higden Rolls Ser. I. 221 In the theatre..cabans and dennes [cellulæ mansionum]. 1480 Caxton Chron. Eng. ccliv. 329 They put hym in a Cabon and his chapelyne for to shryue hym. c 1530 More De quat. Noviss. Wks. 84/2 The gailor..thrusteth your blode into some other caban. 1571 Hanmer Chron. Irel. (1633) 57 Hee went into France, and made them Cabanes, after the Irish manner, in stead of Monasteries. 1611 Bible Jer. xxxvii. 16 When Ieremiah was entred into the dungeon, and into the cabbins. 1616 Surfl. & Markh. Countr. Farm 322 [Bees] busie in making Combes, and building of little Cabbins. |
† b. A small room, a bedroom, a boudoir.
Obs.| 1594 Carew Tasso (1881) 38 Gay clothing, and close cabbanes eke she flyes. 1607 R. Wilkinson Merchant-roy. 30 She that riseth to dinner..& for every fit of an idle feuer betakes her straight to her cabbin againe. 1614 Raleigh Hist. World i. 83 Thou shalt make Cabines in the Arke. c 1620 Z. Boyd Zion's Flowers (1855) 71 She steek't her cabin doore. |
† 4. A natural cave or grotto; the den or hole of a wild beast.
Obs.| 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. iii. 190 Ac þow..crope in to a kaban for colde of þi nailes. 1583 Stanyhurst Aeneis i. (Arb.) 23 A cel or a cabban by nature formed, is vnder. 1589 Gold. Mirr. (1851) 5 Cabbins and caues in England and in Wales. Ibid. 14 The beastly belling bull, lay coucht in cabbin closse. 1601 Holland Pliny I. 358 It might resemble a very cabbin and caue indeed. 1794 S. Williams Vermont 98 The beavers..build cabins, or houses for themselves. |
5. a. A room or compartment in a vessel for sleeping or eating in. An apartment or small room in a ship for officers or passengers. Also in an aircraft or spacecraft.
| 1382 Wyclif Ezek. xxvii. 6 Thi seetis of rowers..and thi litil cabans. 1483 Cath. Angl. 50 A Caban of cuke (coke A.); capana. 1530 Palsgr. 202/1 Cabbyn in a shyppe, cabain. 1555 Eden Decades W. Ind. i. v. (Arb.) 86 Beholdinge..the toppe castell..the cabens, the keele. 1610 Shakes. Temp. i. i. 15 Keepe your Cabines: you do assist the storme. 1626 Capt. Smith Accid. Yng. Seamen 10 The Captaines Cabben or great Cabben. 1718 Lady M. W. Montague Lett. II. lvi. 85 An English lady..desired me to let her go over with me in my cabin. 1748 Anson Voy. i. iii. (ed. 4) 41 Orellana..drew towards the great cabbin. 1835 Sir J. Ross N.-W. Pass. xvii. 259 They were taken into the cabin. 1908 H. G. Wells War in Air vii. 214 There followed upon these things a long, deep swaying of the airship, and then Bert began a struggle to get back to his cabin. 1913 C. Grahame-White Aviation 214 The pilot and his passenger are provided with a completely covered body, which they enter through a small door. This cabin, which has a roof, walls, and floor,..is equipped with celluloid windows. 1921 M. Corelli Secret Power viii. 87 The steering cabin and accommodation for the pilot and observer. 1962 J. Glenn in Into Orbit 41 You have one large handle for repressurizing the cabin with oxygen in case of a bad leak. |
† b. A berth (in a ship).
hanging cabin: a hammock, cot.
Obs.| 1598 W. Phillips Linschoten's Trav. Ind. in Arb. Garner III. 20 Each man his cabin to sleep in. 1626 Capt. Smith Accid. Yng. Seamen 11 A cabben, a hanging cabben, a Hamacke. 1697 W. Dampier Voy. (1729) III. i. 191 Captain Davis..was thrown out of his Cabbin. 1732 T. Lediard Sethos II. vii. 120 Cabbins hung upon palm-trees. 1769 Falconer Dict. Marine, Cajutes, the cabins or bed-places..for the common sailors. |
† 6. A litter.
Obs.| 1577 Holinshed Chron. II. 770 People flocking..some with beires, some with cabbins, some with carts..to fetch awaie the dead and the wounded. a 1631 Donne Poems (1650) 143 Some coffin'd in their cabbins lie. |
† 7. A (political)
cabinet : hence
cabin council,
cabin counsellor,
cabin signet.
Obs.| 1636 Featly Clavis Myst. xiv. 193 They are made of the Cabin Councell, and become leaders in our vestries. 1643 True Informer 2 Their Majesties Letters under the cabine Signet. 1644 Milton Areop. Wks. 1738 I. 142 Haughtiness of Prelates and cabin Counsellors that usurp'd of late. 1649 ― Eikon. iv. (1851) 364 Putting off such wholesome acts and councels, as the politic Cabin at Whitehall had no mind to. Ibid. xi. 425 To vindicate and restore the Rights of Parlament invaded by Cabin councels. 1676 W. Row Contn. Blair's Autobiog. xii. (1848) 430 A close cabin council plotting and contriving all things. |
8. Comb. Chiefly in sense 5, as
cabin-keeper,
cabin-passage,
cabin-passenger,
cabin-scuttle,
cabin-stairs,
cabin-window, etc.;
cabin-parloured (having a parlour no bigger than a ship's cabin);
† cabin-bed, a berth;
cabin class, the designation of a type of accommodation in a passenger ship (
cf. first,
tourist class); also
attrib.;
cabin crew, the crew members of an aircraft whose principal duty is the care of passengers (or cargo); the flight attendants on an aeroplane;
cabin cruiser, a cruiser with a cabin for living in (in
quot. 1921, a flying-boat);
cabin fever N. Amer. colloq., lassitude, restlessness, irritability, or aggressiveness resulting from being confined for too long with few or no companions;
cabin ship, a vessel carrying only one class of cabin passengers. Also cabin-boy, -mate.
| 1719 De Foe Crusoe (1840) II. ii. 31 He lay in a *cabin-bed. |
| 1929 Evening News 18 Nov. 5/5 The plans for the *cabin-class vessels. 1936 Times 3 Feb. 17/5 There are four agreements in the North Atlantic passenger route—i.e. first-class, cabin, tourist, and third-class. |
| 1954 Aviation Week 25 Jan. 39/1 Another film..shows how the *cabin crew, by assuming roles as hosts and hostesses, work together to satisfy the customer. 1986 Daily Tel. 17 Feb. 11/7 For would-be air cabin crew the news is discouraging. BA now run a bank of trained part-time stewards/stewardesses, willing to be ‘on call’ for specified tours of duty. |
| 1921 Aircraft Year Book 187 Practical experimental work..was also carried on with the Dayton Wright K.T. ‘*Cabin Cruiser’. 1928 Vanity Fair Aug. 73/1 Among the standard craft..is the 38-foot single cabin cruiser. 1959 Manchester Guardian 15 Aug. 5/2 Everywhere in the United States the outboard motor, the cabin cruiser..are to be seen. |
| 1918 ‘B. M. Bower’ Cabin Fever i. 1 The mind fed too long upon monotony succumbs to the insidious mental ailment which the West calls ‘*cabin fever’. 1924 E. Shephard Paul Bunyan 135 But that year they got the spring-fever or cabin-fever or somethin', and got lazy and laid down on their jobs. 1953 E. Munsterhjelm Wind & Caribou 128 Cabin fever..is an insidious disease which creeps unnoticed upon people who are forced to live together for a long time in cramped quarters. 1980 Hunting Ann. 1981 42/2 At first, I figured the post-Christmas grouse forays would be only a cure for the almost terminal case of cabin fever I suffer each winter. |
| 1807 Vancouver Agric. Devon (1813) 389 *Cabin keepers to shipwrights. |
| 1802 W. Taylor in Robberds Mem. I. 410 The squeezed, *cabin-parloured houselets of Dover. |
| 1830 Galt Laurie T. vii. i. (1849) 300, I took my passage in her—a *cabin-passage. |
| 1760 Wesley Jrnl. 24 Aug., Half..were *cabin passengers. |
| 1851 H. Melville Whale xxix. 138 The silent steersman would watch the *cabin-scuttle. |
| 1926 Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 3 July 7/6 (Advt.), Fine Scotch *cabin ships to the old country, and real Scotch hospitality. 1958 B. Hamilton Too much of Water i. 9 What used to be called a cabin ship, with accommodation in a single class. |
| 1743 Fielding J. Wild iii. vii. 323 Falling down the *cabbin stairs he dislocated his shoulder. |
▸
Indian English. An office; an office cubicle.
| 1979 P. Nihalani et al. Indian & Brit. Eng. 41 When I entered his cabin, I found him at his desk writing. 1999 Econ. Times (New Delhi) (Nexis) 1 Dec. The carpet is old and threadbare, a few tired faces in tiny cubicles look up from computer screens and a musty smell hits you the moment you step into his small cabin. 2006 Business Today (Nexis) 5 Nov. 108 His cabin on the first floor of Dr Reddy's corporate office at Ameerpet in Hyderabad. |
▪ II. cabin, v. (
ˈkæbɪn)
[f. the n., q.v. for Forms.] 1. intr. To dwell, lodge, take shelter, in, or as in, a cabin (senses 1–4).
| 1586 J. Ferne Blaz. Gentrie 49 Flying from their houses, and cabaning in woods and caues. 1588 Shakes. Tit. A. iv. ii. 179 And sucke the Goate, And cabbin in a Caue. 1602 W. Fulbecke Pandectes 32 Vnder the shadow of Scipio the Citie, the Ladie of the world did cabbon. 1611 Heywood Gold. Age i. i. Wks. 1874 III. 15 Perpetuall care shall cabin in my heart. 1865 Parkman Champlain ix. (1875) 298 Bands of Indians cabined along the borders of the cove. |
2. trans. To lodge, entertain, or shelter, as in a cabin.
| 1602 W. Fulbecke 2nd Pt. Parall. 74 Chast learning cabboned with frugall contentment. 1745 W. Thompson Sickness p. iv, Rock'd by the blast, and cabin'd in the storm. |
3. trans. To shut up or confine within narrow and hampering bounds. (Mostly after Shakespeare.)
| 1605 Shakes. Macb. iii. iv. 24 Now I am cabin'd, crib'd, confin'd, bound in. 1818 Byron Ch. Har. iv. cxxvi, The faculty divine Is chain'd and tortured—cabin'd, cribb'd, confined. 1846 Lytton Lucretia (1853) 253 [One who] had the authority to cabin his mind in the walls of form. 1871 Freeman Norm. Conq. (1876) IV. xvii. 58 The newer foundation was cabined, cribbed, and confined in a very narrow space between the Cathedral Church and the buildings of the City. |
b. with
in.
| 1780 Burke Sp. Bristol Wks. III. 417 They imagine that their souls are cooped and cabined in, unless they have some man..dependent on their mercy. |
4. trans. To partition
off into small apartments.
| 1815 Hist. J. Decastro I. 79 The inside of it..is..cabbined off into small apartments. |