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

Example Sentences

He tasked Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner with reviving home construction, but she resigned after irregularities emerged over her property taxes and the purchase of an apartment.

From The Wall Street Journal

Jill believes baby Regina was in the apartment when June was killed.

From BBC

Two years on, she lives off monthly transfers from her sister abroad that barely cover rent for her studio apartment.

From Barron's

Almost everything we think of about television comedy—and most of what we know about the medium in general—came from Lucy and Ricky’s New York apartment.

From The Wall Street Journal

During the first weeks of the Nazi occupation, we scarcely left our apartment, living off the supplies of Mother’s ample pantry.

From Literature

Related Words

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