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  #1 (permalink)  
Unread Feb 13th, 2011, 11:05 am
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Join Date: Jan 14th, 2011
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Question the difference between cellar and basement.

I know the meaning of both. But people in some forums say that the two are the same things.
Wheras I know that cellar is a room under ground level for storage.Basement is the level under ground level not a room. For example: The toys are sold in the basement .
basement
ground level
first floor
second floor ...etc.

Am I wrong or else is this an British and American difference such as gas and petrol??
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  #2 (permalink)  
Unread Feb 13th, 2011, 12:36 pm
Sue
 
Join Date: Oct 8th, 2006
Location: Milan
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Default Re: the difference between cellar and basement.

No it's not a US/UK difference. Your definition is fine. It's a matter of the use of the space, as you say. A cellar is for storage (possibly in a house but also eg a wine cellar in a vineyard), while a basement is used for something. So a shop might have a basement level (as you say) or you might live in a basement flat. You'd never use "cellar" in this context.

Another slightly different use for cellar is "an underground room used to shelter from tornadoes", usually called a storm cellar. Remember the Wizard of Oz?

Level vs single room is also important though. Under our apartment block is a space divided into about 40 lockable storage areas (one per apartment) divided by corridors. That for me is the basement - possibly also because to get to it you have to go outside the house and back in through another door. A cellar, for me, has an entrance through the floor of the house.
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Unread Feb 13th, 2011, 01:07 pm
Sue
 
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Default Re: the difference between cellar and basement.

Whoops, wrong never trust your intuitions where language is concerned - always check.

I just googled it and you can say "cellar flat". But a google battle showed 39,200 entries for "cellar flat" vs 738,000 for "basement flat".

So "basement flat" is clearly much more common.
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Unread Feb 22nd, 2011, 06:21 pm
clever
 
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Default Re: the difference between cellar and basement.

I have seen a little differences between cellar and basement! Basements usually have walls of cement or whateverthey are built of. A celler like stated above is smaller than a basement and back in the early settlements to the 1950's they were dirt walls, now most are concrete, not all but most.
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