harborage

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   shelter, refuge, or a place that provides safety and lodging

   The remote school offered harborage from the hostile household she had left.

2. 2
   noun

   a sheltered place where ships can anchor safely

   The inlet provided harborage during the storm.

3. 3
   noun

   a place or condition that allows pests or other unwanted organisms to live and breed

   The inspector found cockroach harborage beneath the damp boards.

Formed from harbor + -age, replacing Middle English herbergage, 'lodging or dwelling,' from Anglo-French words for sheltering and lodging. Harbourage is the British spelling used in Jane Eyre.

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