chalet

noun

cha·​let sha-ˈlā 

ˈsha-(ˌ)lā

1

: a remote herdsman's hut in the Alps

2

a

: a Swiss dwelling with unconcealed structural members and a wide overhang at the front and sides

b

: a cottage or house in chalet style

Illustration of chalet

• chalet 2a

Synonyms

• cottage
• cabin

Examples of chalet in a Sentence

We stayed overnight at a ski chalet.

a mountain chalet for weekend getaways

Recent Examples on the Web

On entering the century-old chalet, we were hit by the comforting scent of slow-roasting pork. —Christine Muhlke, Travel + Leisure, 12 Aug. 2025

Hotel de Len, right in the town center, is a modernist chalet, minimalist but still cozy. —Sophie Friedman, AFAR Media, 29 July 2025

Upstairs, the chalet’s gift shop carries all varieties of cheeses and quality goods, such as coffee cups with traditional découpage silhouette scenes. —John Oseid, Forbes.com, 1 July 2025

While the helicopter arrivals christened with champagne and oysters are a far cry from the chalet’s humble mountain hut beginnings, the legacy of rugged adventure remains. —Chloe Berge, Outside Online, 17 June 2025

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from French, borrowed from Franco-Provençal of Switzerland (and adjacent Alpine regions of France and Italy) tsalẹ̀, tchalè "cabin in upland summer pastures used as a residence and for processing milk into butter and cheese, pasture in the vicinity of such a structure," from tsal-, tchal-, stem probably meaning "shelter" seen as an underived noun in Old Occitan cala "cove, inlet" (also in Spanish & Catalan, and as a loanword from Spanish in Italian & Portuguese, probably a borrowing from a western Mediterranean substratal language) + -ẹ̀, -è -et entry 1

Note: A display of the variants found in Franco-Provençal of Switzerland can be seen in Glossaire des patois de la Suisse romande (tome 3, p. 270). The word occurs as chaletus in Latin documents from present-day Vaud canton beginning in the fourteenth century. As chalet the word is first attested in metropolitan French in 1723; it received wide circulation through its use in Jean-Jacques Rousseau's novel Julie ou la Nouvelle Héloïse (1761).

First Known Use

1782, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for chalet

• airway
• allay
• archway
• array
• ashtray
• astray
• aue
• away
• ballet
• belay
• beltway
• beret

Kids Definition

chalet

noun

cha·​let sha-ˈlā 

ˈshal-ˌā

1

: a herdsman's hut in the Alps away from a town or village

2

a

: a Swiss dwelling with a roof that sticks far out past the walls

b

: a cottage built to look like a chalet