old home; former dwelling; old nest
Literary or poetic term for a place where one used to live, including a former home or an animal's old nest. Rare in everyday conversation; more common words are 昔の家 or 古巣.
He visited his old home and was lost in memories of the past.
The swallows returned to their old nest from last year.
Rare kanji spelling; the character 棲 means 'dwelling' or 'habitat' and is not in common use. The variant 旧栖 is also attested.
Variant spelling using 栖, also rare. Both kanji forms are literary and seldom encountered in modern writing.
Compound of 旧 (former, old) and 棲 (dwelling, habitat). The reading きゅうせい follows standard on'yomi. The variant 旧栖 uses a different character for 'dwelling' with the same reading. The word is not commonly used in modern Japanese.