apartment
Americannoun
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apartments
plural
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a room or a group of related rooms, among similar sets in one building, designed for use as a dwelling.
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a building containing or made up of such rooms.
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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.
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British. apartments, a set of rooms used as a dwelling by one person or one family.
noun
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(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
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another name (esp US and Canadian) for flat 2
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( as modifier )
apartment building
apartment house
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Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of apartment
1635–45; < French appartement < Italian appartamento, equivalent to apparta ( re ) to separate, divide (verbal derivative of a parte apart, to one side) + -mento -ment
Explanation
An apartment is a private residence in a building or house that's divided into several separate dwellings. An apartment can be one small room or several. An apartment is a flat — it's usually a few rooms that you rent in a building. Your apartment might be in a fancy high rise with a doorman and an elevator, or over your parents' garage. Since the 1640s, an apartment has meant "separate rooms within a house," from the Italian word appartimento, which literally means "a separated place."
Vocabulary lists containing apartment
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:
A $135,000 apartment he had been eyeing in 2019 was taken off the market during the early part of the pandemic, then relisted and eventually sold for $305,000.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 6, 2026
Work hard, buy an apartment, climb the economic ladder and stay out of politics.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026
Wardrobe stylist and art director Morgan Jordan added color to her Glendale apartment, the home of her vintage furniture and art collection.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026
The government introduced the measures after nationwide protests following the eviction, on a stretcher, of 87-year-old Maricarmen Abascal from a Madrid apartment she had occupied for around seven decades.
From Barron's ● Oct. 3, 2026
Dad says as he walks through his and Steph’s apartment.
From "Clairboyance" by Kristiana Kahakauwila
Supporters say the measure will speed up environmental review for certain projects, from affordable apartments to hospitals, cutting costly delays and passing those savings on to consumers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026
A prison compound in Indonesia has been demolished after public outcry following the discovery of luxury apartments within the penitentiary.
From BBC ● Sep. 30, 2026
Last week, the Indonesian ombudsman's office said an inspection had uncovered a cluster of indulgently furnished apartments inhabited by inmates on the grounds of the Cibinong prison in Bogor, south of the capital.
From Barron's ● Sep. 30, 2026
The subsidy will be eligible for buyers who plan to purchase apartments no larger than 120 square meters and valued less than 1.5 million yuan.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2026
“Papa said the apartments here cost too much,” Hyacinth added.
From "The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street" by Karina Yan Glaser
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.
