apartment

American  

[uh-pahrt-muhnt] / əˈpɑrt mənt /

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.

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apartment British  

/ 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

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Other Word Forms

• apartmental
  adjective

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."

Example Sentences

“Unlike apartment life, townhouses offer the freedom of full independence: no shared walls, no coop boards or common lobbies, no neighbors above or below,” it reads.

From MarketWatch • May 6, 2026

In Los Angeles, Bloom was first arrested in August 2022 after residents of the Villa Carlotta confronted him at his apartment about their lost investments.

From Los Angeles Times • May 5, 2026

Sarah “Sally” Snyder, a young, struggling actress, was found dead in a New York City apartment on the eve of her 22nd birthday, about two weeks before Christmas 1973.

From Slate • May 5, 2026

"If it had hit the sides of the building, it could have struck an occupied apartment," a fire department officer told the G1 news website.

From Barron's • May 5, 2026

When we lived in Brooklyn, there was a fruit stand near our old apartment we’d get mangoes from.

From "The Wrong Way Home" by Kate O’Shaughnessy

Related Words

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