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

Bravo, who plans to move out of his home into a secure apartment complex, sees such promises as pure electioneering.

Read more on Barron's

The boy’s body was found after sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to an apartment in Lynwood, officials said.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

After they both retired, they sold their home in upstate New York and moved in June 2024, to New York City, where they had kept an apartment for years.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

The 54-year-old has tried many of the dozen or so Omakase sushi menus near his other home, a West Village apartment.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

If a fence helps bring back families, many of whom live in apartments and have no yards, that’s a good thing.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

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