Barracks are living quarters for personnel on a military post. They are typically very plain an all of the buildings in the housing unit are often uniform structures. The term can also be used to describe the building(s) in which convicts are housed. The Oxford English Dictionary suggests that the term barrack is derived from the French baraque or Italian baracca and originally meant a temporary hut or cabin. It may also be derived from the Valencian word barraca. It was not until 1690s that the word was used to describe a place of lodgement or residence for soldiers.