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

The apartment is not student housing, but university officials said they were working to determine how many, if any, UCR students may have been affected.

From Los Angeles Times • May 29, 2026

You also have to pay for movers, security deposits, and, let’s not forget, buying furniture for each apartment because oftentimes the furniture you bought for one apartment won’t fit in another.

From MarketWatch • May 29, 2026

"I'm really afraid for my life here," she said, adding that the drone could have fallen on her own apartment block.

From Barron's • May 29, 2026

Sumesh Geevarghese, who lives in Cardiff with his family, described having a cockroach infestation at his rented apartment as "very stressful", adding: "They started coming from everywhere."

From BBC • May 28, 2026

The new house was very, very different from the old apartment.

From "All About Sam" by Lois Lowry

Related Words

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