areal

[air-ee-uhl]

adjective

1. of or relating to the extent of a bounded surface or two-dimensional space.

   The evaporation model was applied to surfaces of overgrown water having up to 15% areal plant cover.

2. of or relating to a particular geographical region.

   Heavy rainfall produced areal flooding in the county, leaving several dirt roads washed out and a few county roads closed.

3. of or relating to a particular field of study.

   Topical and areal strengths of the Anthropology department include cultural politics, economic anthropology, historical archaeology, and Latin American studies.

Other Word Forms

• areally adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of areal¹

First recorded in 1670–70; from Latin āreālis, from āre(a) “vacant piece of level ground, open space in a town, threshing floor” + -ālis -al ¹ ( def. ); area ( def. )

Example Sentences

The areal capacitance of the resulting MSC retains its original value even after stretching up to 1,000 cycles.

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However, to transition to higher areal densities, a high anisotropy magnetic recording medium consisting of FePt grains combined with heat-assisted laser writing is required.

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The NHC said heavy rainfall in the region could worsen ongoing minor to isolated moderate river flooding over northern Florida and lead to lead to areal, urban and small stream flooding.

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Local mayors posted videos pleading for areal firefighting responses to wildfires in their areas while celebrities joined a social media campaign requesting foreign help to combat the blazes.

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AccuWeather noted that while snowfall is not irregular to Montana and the northern Rockies during May, the "areal coverage" of the snowstorms usually shrinks and "nearly perfect conditions" are needed to produce accumulating snow.

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Related Words

• provincial