journal
Americannoun
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journals
plural
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a daily record, as of occurrences, experiences, or observations.
She kept a journal during her European trip.
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a newspaper, especially a daily one.
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a periodical or magazine, especially one published for a special group, learned society, or profession.
the October issue of The English Journal.
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a record, usually daily, of the proceedings and transactions of a legislative body, an organization, etc.
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Bookkeeping.
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a daybook.
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(in the double-entry method) a book into which all transactions are entered from the daybook or blotter to facilitate posting into the ledger.
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Nautical. a log or logbook.
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Machinery. the portion of a shaft or axle contained by a plain bearing.
verb (used without object)
noun
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a newspaper or periodical
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a book in which a daily record of happenings, etc, is kept
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an official record of the proceedings of a legislative body
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accounting
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Also called: Book of Original Entry. one of several books in which transactions are initially recorded to facilitate subsequent entry in the ledger
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another name for daybook
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the part of a shaft or axle in contact with or enclosed by a bearing
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a plain cylindrical bearing to support a shaft or axle
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of journal
First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English, from Old French journal “daily,” from Late Latin diurnālis; see diurnal
Explanation
If you keep a daily––or at least somewhat regular––written account of your life, you are keeping a diary or journal. A journal is also a periodical, such as a scientific journal or a scholarly journal. Journal comes from an Old French word which meant daily (jour being the French word for day, as in soup du jour, or “soup of the day”). You can keep a journal in an old notebook, on the computer, or on scraps of paper, but if you keep it in a book made especially for that purpose, then that physical book (whether you've written in it or not) is called a journal.
Vocabulary lists containing journal
TEKS ELAR Academic Vocabulary List (5th-7th grades)
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Hole in My Life
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Writing - Introductory
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The research was published in the journal Pediatric Exercise Science.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 17, 2026
The findings have now been published in the renowned journal Cell Reports.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 14, 2026
The results were published in the journal Communications Psychology.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 13, 2026
“On the smaller side it’s about the emissions of Mexico annually,” said Holly Alpine, one of the co-authors of the research, which was published in the journal Nature.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
“Was that the leather-bound journal in the bag that you had at the library?” asked Jake.
From "The Smartest Kid in the Universe" by Chris Grabenstein
His Capitol Hill appearance came after the release of his private journals from during the Covid-19 pandemic.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 2, 2026
They added: "Allegations of plagiarism regarding Professor Arday's thesis and some of his journal publications have been investigated by Liverpool John Moores University and the journals in question."
From BBC ● Aug. 1, 2026
Family secrets and sibling drama: A reader is distraught that their siblings threw away their late father’s journals, which held clues about who he really was.
From Slate ● Jul. 21, 2026
The diminishing returns of instant gratification might explain why catalogs are nearly always, according to trade publications and business journals, on the verge of a renaissance.
From Salon ● Jul. 18, 2026
They didn’t have journals full of sad poems, and they didn’t smile from ear to ear when Ivy taught them how to draw cute animals and glass girls.
From "Ivy Aberdeen’s Letter to the World" by Ashley Herring Blake
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
