suite
Definitions
A set of connected rooms, especially in a hotel
套房；套间
A matching set of furniture or of software programs
（家具）一套；（软件）套件
A piece of instrumental music made up of several related movements
组曲
The group of attendants accompanying an important person
随员；随从
Root Breakdown
Root-derivedsuite keeps the original Old French spelling and meaning: 'a following, a connected set.' It never drifted toward 'match,' so it always names a group that belongs together — rooms that open into one another, movements that follow as a set, or the attendants who follow a great person.
Root suit still carries 7 more wordsUsage Guide
- Pronunciation trap: suite is pronounced /swiːt/, exactly like 'sweet' — not like suit /suːt/. A common spelling/sound mix-up for learners.
- Senses span very different domains (hotel rooms, music, software, attendants) but all mean 'a connected/matching set'; context tells which.
Example Sentences
- 1.
They booked a suite on the top floor of the hotel.
- 2.
Bach's cello suites are among his most loved works.
- 3.
The software comes as a full suite of office tools.
Easily Confused
suite vs suit — spelled almost the same but pronounced differently: suite = /swiːt/ ('sweet'), a connected set of rooms/music; suit = /suːt/, clothing or a court case. 'Hotel suit' is a classic typo for 'hotel suite.'