As an Australian in the US, it seems that term is ambiguous. When a college student talks about their roommate, yeah that's the freaky situation of being an ad

As an Australian in the US, it seems that term is ambiguous. When a college student talks about their roommate, yeah that's the freaky situation of being an adult and not having your own bedroom. But on other contexts it just means what I would call a "housemate". You're not actually in the same room.