[Vocabulary] loft vs attic

[tom3m]

What are the differences between loft and attic? I tried to find it in the dictionaries, but I didn't see any difference.

Thank you

 

[Chicken Sandwich]

What are the differences between loft and attic? I tried to find it in the dictionaries, but I didn't see any difference.

Thank you.

NOT A TEACHER

Perhaps there isn't any? According to the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English "loft" and "attic" are synonyms, but as you can see, "loft" is used in British English.

Edit. See this previous thread.

 

[SoothingDave]

Loft - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

When I hear "loft" I think of a loft apartment. An attic is a typically unfinished upper level in a house used for storage.

 

[Barb_D]

Lofts are also finished spaces but without a full wall overlooking the floor below. You may have a half-height wall and then essentially a large, open-air "window" to the interior of the house. You wouldn't want a bedroom there, for example, because of limited privacy, but it would be a good space for a comptuer room, TV room, sewing/crafts room, etc.

 

[MartinEnglish]

I think this might be another British/American difference - I'm British and to me loft and attic are very nearly synonymous - it's the space under the roof beam usually only accessible by ladder through a trapdoor and where you chuck your suitcases, elephant gun, old dolls and teddy bears etc. "I was up the loft the other day and you'll never guess what I found!"
But I think, for me at any rate, an attic has the possibility of being an attic room - converted into a bedroom etc. which, judging by what has been written above, is not the case in American English.

 

[emsr2d2]

An attic is a typically unfinished upper level in a house used for storage.

In the UK, that level is the loft.

 

[Barb_D]

Do you really have an elephant gun?

 

[SoothingDave]

An attic can be converted into a living area.

 

[JMurray]

In Aust/NZ I think most people would go along with MartinEnglish's post, with "attic" being the more common term for the place where we store our kangaroo nets and moa traps.
The exposed, part-storey that Barb describes would usually be called a mezzanine, whether in a house or commercial property.

not a teacher

 

[probus]

I think the meaning of these terms varies widely from one real estate market to another. In the Toronto market (an extremely hot one) loft is currently used to mean any condo or co-op type apartment in an old industrial building that has been converted to residential use. Attic on the other hand means the space under the roof of a single family home. It might be converted to residential use, but would be low for comfort and far too hot in summer.

 

[konungursvia]

Here in Toronto, and in much of North America, an attic is enclosed just under the roof, and us usually thought of as storage space we might spend some time in, whereas a loft is an indoor balcony of sorts where we often put an open-concept bedroom that overlooks a living room. Also, a loft can be a large apartment with 15 or 20 foot ceilings which was originally designed as an industrial space but has been converted to an impromptu-looking residential space.

 

[5jj]

I think the meaning of these terms varies widely from one real estate market to another.

I don't think anyone could disagree with that now.