Home

A home is a place of residence or protection and comfort. It is usually a place in which an individual or a family can rest and be able to store and keep personal items. Most modern day households contain hygienic facilities and a means of preparing food. Animals also have their own homes, either living in the wild or in a domesticated environment. There are particular cultures in which members don’t have permanent homes, such as with nomadic people.

While a house or a residential dwelling is often referred to as a "home" in North American English, the concept of "home" expresses itself on a much broader meaning of a physical dwelling. Many people think of home as a place where they grew up or where they lived, a place that brings back old memories or feelings, and a home can even be a time rather than an actual place. The phrases, "There's no place like home. Or "Home is where the heart is." come from these sentiments.

The word "home" can be used for various types of residential institutions in which people can live, such as nursing homes, group homes (orphanages for children, retirement homes for seniors, prisons for criminals, treatment facilities, etc.), and foster homes.

In computer terminology, a 'home' may refer to a starting view when you first open up your internet explorer that branch off into other tasks, e.g. a homepage or a desktop. Many of these home pages on the internet start off with introductory information, recent news or events, and links to subpages. "Home" may also refer to a home directory which contains the personal files of a given user of the computer system.

Since it can be said that humans are generally creatures of habit, the state of a person's home has been known to physiologically affect their behaviour, emotions, and overall mental health. Some people may become homesick when they leave their home over an extended period of time like a holiday or a weekend away at a friend’s house. Sometimes homesickness can cause a person to feel actual symptoms of illness.