居住 means 'to reside' or 'to live (in a place)' and is a formal, neutral verb commonly used in both spoken and written Chinese. It combines two characters with overlapping meanings: 居 (jū) means 'to dwell' or 'to stay', often implying stability or permanence; 住 (zhù) means 'to live' or 'to stay', emphasizing the act of inhabiting a space. Together, 居住 emphasizes long-term, settled residence — not temporary lodging or short visits — and is frequently used in official, administrative, or descriptive contexts, such as housing policies, census reports, or biographical summaries.

This word is more formal than the colloquial 住 (zhù) alone and less personal or emotional than 生活 (shēnghuó, 'to live' in the sense of daily existence). It typically takes a location complement introduced by 在 (zài), e.g., 在北京居住. While it can appear without an explicit location when context is clear, it rarely stands alone without a subject and location reference in natural usage.