apartment

[uh-pahrt-muhnt]

noun

1. a room or a group of related rooms, among similar sets in one building, designed for use as a dwelling.

2. a building containing or made up of such rooms.

3. any separated room or group of rooms in a house or other dwelling.

   We heard cries from an apartment at the back of the house.

4. British.,  apartments, a set of rooms used as a dwelling by one person or one family.

apartment

/ əˈpɑːtmənt /

noun

1. (often plural) any room in a building, usually one of several forming a suite, esp one that is spacious and well furnished and used as living accommodation, offices, etc

2. 1. another name (esp US and Canadian) for flat 2

   2. ( as modifier )

      apartment building

      apartment house

Other Word Forms

• apartmental adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of apartment¹

1635–45; < French appartement < Italian appartamento, equivalent to apparta ( re ) to separate, divide (verbal derivative of a parte apart, to one side) + -mento -ment

Word History and Origins

Origin of apartment¹

C17: from French appartement, from Italian appartamento, from appartare to set on one side, separate

Example Sentences

We have become unhappy with apartment living and will probably be moving next summer, regardless of our rent-versus-own dilemma.

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It is one of the country’s largest apartment managers.

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I’d always lived in apartments and I was always on the road.

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When the Underdog balloon gets loose during the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade, the group rushes to the roof to watch only to realize they are locked out of the apartment.

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He was looking for summer subletters to stay in his student apartment and decided he could build a business around that.

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Related Words

• co-op 
• condo 
• condominium 
• cooperative 
• flat 
• suite