airbnb

/ˌɛəɹˌbiːɛnˈbiː/

Etymology

Shortening of the company's former name AirBed & Breakfast, coined by co-founders Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia in 2007, who originally came up with the idea of putting an air mattress in their living room and turning it into a bed and breakfast. Equivalent to air + B&B (“bed and breakfast”).

name

  1. An online vacation rental marketplace, operated by Airbnb, Inc.

noun

  1. The system of renting out apartments by means of an intermediary website, popularized by the company of the same name.“It's more of an Airbnb model than a proper let.”
  2. An apartment offered for renting by means of this system.“I am staying at an Airbnb for the summer.”

verb

  1. To rent (an apartment) by Airbnb or similar means, whether as a lessor or a lessee.“Jamie Wong […] told me: “I moved out of my apartment in central San Francisco, rented a cheaper annex in a friend’s home, and ‘airbnb-ed’ my apartment for $200 a night and earned about $20,000 in a year. It enabled me to bootstrap my start-up. Airbnb was our first round of funding!””
  2. To pursue this activity by Airbnb or similar means, whether as a lessor or a lessee.“Somehow, we imagine, Mariah Carey’s Airbnb experience is going to be slightly different. Carey is, per Page Six, going to be renting a $10,000-per-night property on Malibu’s “Billionaires’ Beach,” […] Page Six says that she will be Airbnb-ing at least until the end of August, when she leaves for a concert in Israel.”