In today's standard language, the morpho-lexical type Gaden still denotes a house consisting of only one room or a chamber in various regions. In addition, it also exists as a technical term from the field of architecture for the window area of a basilica (cf. place name Steingaden (in the Upper Bavarian district of Weilheim-Schongau).
The word is attested as a neuter since Old High German times as gadum or gadem. A connection with words of other Indo-European languages is established via a word for 'let' or 'release', for Germanic *ǵhə-t-mo- ‛free space, empty room' is assumed (cf. Kluge 2011, online under Gaden). In Danish, gade means 'street' (Duden under Gaden). In the VerbaAlpina area, the word is mostly bound in compounds, especially frequently in the Alemannic dialects of Switzerland, where it denotes a single room (milk room, cattle shed on the alpine pasture, hay room in the alpine barn) (cf. Idiotikon under gădem), while, especially in South Tyrol, it refers to a barn. In Northern Tyrol, on the other hand, forms based on Stadel are generally used; cf. also 'Ore', i.e., the open space between houses. Gaden or Gadem was already considered obsolete in the 19th century, as shown by a glance at Grimms' dictionary. At that time, the word was still present as both a neuter and a masculine (cf. DWB under Gadem).