Why are they called roommates when you live in an apartment with somebody? I understand it from a college sense because you are quite literally sharing a room with that person. You guys share a dorm room. But when you're not talking about it from a college perspective, then why are they still called roommates? Because unless you're under the unfortunate circumstance where your apartment is literally one room or there's only one bedroom, then it shouldn't be called roommates because you're not rooming with the person. You're not sleeping with the person in the same room.