Online Etymology Dictionary

house (v.): "give shelter to," Old English husian "to take into a house; place or enclose in a house" (cognate with Old Frisian husa, German hausen, Dutch huizen); see house (n.). Intransitive sense from 1590s. Related: Housed; housing.
house (n.): Old English hus "dwelling, shelter, building designed to be used as a residence," from Proto-Germanic *husan (source also of Old Norse, Old Frisian hus, Dutch huis, German Haus), of unknown origin, perhaps connected to the root of hide (v.) [OED]. In Gothic only in gudhus "temple," literally "god-house;" the usual word for "house" in Gothic being according to OED razn.

Meaning "family, including ancestors and descendants, especially if noble" is from c. 1000. Zodiac sense is first attested late 14c. The legislative sense (1540s) is transferred from the building in which the body meets. Meaning "audience in a theater" is from 1660s (transferred from the theater itself, playhouse). Meaning "place of business" is 1580s. The specialized college and university sense (1530s) also applies to both buildings and students collectively, a double sense found earlier in reference to religious orders (late 14c.). As a dance club DJ music style, probably from the Warehouse, a Chicago nightclub where the style is said to have originated.

To play house is from 1871; as suggestive of "have sex, shack up," 1968. House arrest first attested 1936. House-painter is from 1680s. House-raising (n.) is from 1704. On the house "free" is from 1889. House and home have been alliteratively paired since c. 1200.
And the Prophet Isaiah the sonne of Amos came to him, and saide vnto him, Thus saith the Lord, Set thine house in order: for thou shalt die, and not liue. [II Kings xx:1, version of 1611]
tree-house (n.): 1867, from tree (n.) + house (n.).
ice-house (n.): 1680s, from ice (n.) + house (n.).
in-house (adj.): also inhouse, 1955, from in (prep.) + house (n.).
meeting-house (n.): also meetinghouse, 1630s, from meeting (n.) + house (n.).
gate-house (n.): also gatehouse, "house for a gatekeeper," late 14c., from gate (n.) + house (n.).
farm-house (n.): also farmhouse, "principal dwelling-house of a farm," 1590s, from farm (n.) + house (n.).
spring-house (n.): also springhouse, 1762, from spring (n.2) + house (n.).
chop-house (n.): 1680s, "a mean house of entertainment, where provision ready dressed is sold" [Johnson], from chop (n.) in the "meat" sense + house (n.).
rough-house (n.): 1887, "uproar, disturbance," from rough (adj.) + house (n.). The verb is first attested 1896. Related: Rough-housing.
hen-house (n.): 1510s, from hen + house (n.). As a place cheifly inhabited or ruled by women, from 1785.
state-house (n.): 1630s, American English, "a building used for public business," from state (n.2) + house (n.).
jail-house (n.): also jailhouse, late 15c., from jail (n.) + house (n.). Earlier was jail-hall (late 14c.).
wheel-house (n.): also wheelhouse, 1835, "structure enclosing a large wheel," especially one over the steering wheel of a steamboat, thus "pilot house;" from wheel (n.) + house (n.). Baseball slang sense of "a hitter's power zone" attested by 1990.
whore-house (n.): early 14c., from whore (n.) + house (n.). Sometimes translating Latin lupanaria. Obsolete from c. 1700, revived early 20c. in American English.
row-house (n.): 1913, American English, from row (n.1), which is attested from mid-15c. in sense of "a number of houses in a line," + house (n.).
gas-house (n.): also gashouse, 1880 as a power-generating station, from gas (n.1) + house (n.). By 1926, emblematic of a run-down district of a U.S. city, a typical abode of criminals and gangsters.
clearing-house (n.): also clearinghouse, 1832, from clearing + house (n.). The original was established 1775 in London by the bankers for the adjustment of their mutual claims for checks and bills; later the word was extended to similar institutions.
club-house (n.): also clubhouse, "place of meeting and refreshment always open to those who are members of the club," 1818, from club (n.) in the associative sense + house (n.). Clubhouse lawyer is baseball slang by 1940s.
housemaid (n.): also house-maid, 1690s, from house (n.) + maid (n.).
housemate (n.): also house-mate, 1809, from house (n.) + mate (n.).
houseboat (n.): also house-boat, "boat fitted out as a house," 1790, from house (n.) + boat (n.).
housefly (n.): also house-fly, "Musca domestica," early 15c., from house (n.) + fly (n.).
housewarming (n.): also house-warming, "celebration of the entry of a family into a new home," 1570s, from house (n.) + verbal noun from warm (v.).
housekeeper (n.): mid-15c., "householder," from house (n.) + keeper. A later equivalent of householder. The sense of "female head domestic servant of a house" is from c. 1600 (to keep house, as part of a wife's duty, is from late 14c.). Housekeep (v.) is from 1842 and appears to be a back-formation.
houseful (n.): c. 1300, from house (n.) + -ful.
housework (n.): 1841, from house (n.) + work (n.).
housetop (n.): 1520s, from house (n.) + top (n.1).
housecraft (n.): "domestic science," 1906, from house (n.) + craft (n.).
housebreaking (n.): "breaking into a house with felonious intent," early 14c., from house (n.) + break (v.). Formerly used of crimes by day, burglary being for crimes by night. Modifying or replacing earlier husbreche, Old English hus-bryce. Housebreaker is from mid-15c.
household (n.): late 14c., "members of a family collectively (including servants)," also "furniture and articles belonging to a house;" see house (n.) + hold (n.1). As an adjective, "of or pertaining to house and family, domestic," from late 14c. Compare householder. Household word, one that is in very familiar use, is from 1590s; variant household name is from 1862.
housewife (n.): early 13c., husewif, "woman, usually married, in charge of a family or household; wife of a householder," from huse "house" (see house (n.)) + wif "woman" (see wife (n.)). Compare husband (n.). Originally pronounced "huzzif;" the full written form of it began to be used from c. 1500, representing a pronunciation shift that was made at least in part to distinguish it from its offspring, hussy. In 16c., "housewife and hussy were still realized to be same word," and it was felt "that a distinction between the two was due to the reputable matron" [Fowler]. From mid-18c.: "It is common to use housewife in a good, and huswife or hussy in a bad sense" [Johnson]. Related: Housewifely.
dollhouse (n.): 1855, from doll (n.) + house (n.). Doll's house first recorded 1783.
taphouse (n.): also tap-house, c. 1500, from tap (n.1) + house (n.).
slaughterhouse (n.): also slaughter-house, late 14c., "place where animals are butchered for market," from slaughter (n.) + house (n.). The Slaughter-house cases in U.S. history were 1873.
rehouse (v.): also re-house, 1820, from re- + house (v.). Related: Rehoused; rehousing.
greenhouse (n.): also green-house, 1660s, from green (n.) + house (n.). Greenhouse effect attested from 1937.
porterhouse (n.): also porter-house, "restaurant or chophouse where porter is served," 1754, from porter (n.3) + house (n.). Porterhouse steak (1841) is said to be from a particular establishment in New York City.
housing (n.1): "buildings, lodgings," early 14c., husing, from house (n.).
alehouse (n.): also ale-house, Old English eala-huse; see ale + house (n.). An alehouse "is distinguished from a tavern, where they sell wine" [Johnson].
husk (n.): late 14c., huske "dry, outer skin of certain fruits and seeds," of unknown origin. "A common word since c 1400 of which no earlier trace has been found" [OED]. Perhaps from Middle Dutch huuskyn "little house, core of fruit, case," diminutive of huus "house," or from an equivalent formation in English (see house (n.)).
acid (n.): 1690s, from acid (adj.). Slang meaning "LSD-25" first recorded 1966 (see LSD).
When I was on acid I would see things that looked like beams of light, and I would hear things that sounded an awful lot like car horns. [Mitch Hedberg, 1968-2005, U.S. stand-up comic]
Acid rock (type played by or listen to by people using LSD) is also from 1966; acid house dance music style is 1988, probably from acid in the hallucinogenic sense + house "dance club DJ music style."
housebreak (v.): 1820, "to break into a house criminally;" perhaps a back-formation from housebreaking or housebreaker. Sense of "to train a domestic animal to be clean in the house" is from 1881. Related: Housebroken.
almshouse (n.): mid-15c., from alms + house (n.).
poorhouse (n.): 1781, from poor (n.) + house (n.).
householder (n.): late 14c., "head of a household or family; one who manages a household;" by mid-15c. as "one who holds or occupies a house as his dwelling," from household. There are similar formations in other Germanic languages (German Haushälter) also often with corresponding verbal forms (German haushalten) but not in English.
madhouse (n.): 1680s, from mad + house (n.). Figurative use by 1919.
storehouse (n.): mid-14c., from store (n.) + house (n.). Figurative use from 1570s.
brewhouse (n.): late 14c.; late 13c. as a surname, from brew (v.) + house (n.).