area

[air-ee-uh]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR area ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

any particular extent of space or surface; part: the dark areas in the painting; the dusty area of the room.

a geographical region; tract: the Chicago area; the unsettled areas along the frontier.

any section reserved for a specific function: the business area of a town; the dining area of a house.

extent, range, or scope: inquiries that embrace the whole area of science.

field of study, or a branch of a field of study: Related areas of inquiry often reflect borrowed notions.

a piece of unoccupied ground; an open space.

the space or site on which a building stands; the yard attached to or surrounding a house.

British. areaway(def 1).

the quantitative measure of a plane or curved surface; two-dimensional extent.

Anatomy. a zone of the cerebral cortex having a specific function: The damage to Broca's area affected his speech.

Nearby words

Origin of area

1530–40; < Latin ārea vacant piece of level ground, open space in a town, threshing floor; perhaps akin to ārēre to be dry. See arid

Related formsar·e·al, adjectivear·e·al·ly, adverb

Can be confusedarea aria

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for area

Historically the reelection rate for members of Congress is in the area of 95 percent.
The Unbearable Whiteness of Congress|Dean Obeidallah|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
As he drove me back to the logging road, Frank told me about the area in his deep voice.
The 7-Year-Old Plane Crash Survivor’s Brutal Journey Through the Woods|James Higdon|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST
His neighbors include some of the other designer outposts one finds speckled around the area.
The Photographer Who Gave Up Manhattan for Marrakech|Liza Foreman|January 6, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Some thunderstorms were in the area, according to weather reports.
The Presumed Crash of AirAsia Flight QZ8501 Is Nothing Like MH370|Lennox Samuels|December 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Before it was split between Iran, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, Baluchistan spread over an area slightly larger than California.
The Dangerous Drug-Funded Secret War Between Iran and Pakistan|Umar Farooq|December 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST
At station C-5, N. camurus was characteristically found in an area of shallow pools and riffles.
Fishes of Chautauqua, Cowley and Elk Counties, Kansas|Artie L. Metcalf
They have been despotic because they ruled in an area where they had too much common sense to attempt to be constitutional.
What I Saw in America|G. K. Chesterton
In other parts of the world we may find regions many times this area, where we can only study the rocks of some one period.
The Geological Story of the Isle of Wight|J. Cecil Hughes
They live in standardized brick bungalows in their own area which is equipped with tennis courts and a library.
An African Adventure|Isaac F. Marcosson
The kitchen door of the house, like the area gate, was closed but not fastened.
The Dynamiter|Robert Louis Stevenson

British Dictionary definitions for area

area

noun

any flat, curved, or irregular expanse of a surface

the extent of a two-dimensional surface enclosed within a specified boundary or geometric figurethe area of Ireland; the area of a triangle
the two-dimensional extent of the surface of a solid, or of some part thereof, esp one bounded by a closed curvethe area of a sphere

a section, portion, or partan area of the body; an area of the sky

region; district; localitya mountainous area

a geographical division of administrative responsibility
(as modifier)area manager

a part or section, as of a building, town, etc, having some specified function or characteristicreception area; commercial area; slum area

Also called: areaway a sunken area, usually enclosed, giving light, air, and sometimes access to a cellar or basement

the range, extent, or scope of anything

a subject field or field of study

any unoccupied or unused flat open piece of ground

the ground on which a building stands, or the ground surrounding a building

anatomy any of the various regions of the cerebral cortex

computing any part of a computer memory assigned to store data of a specified type

Derived Formsareal, adjective

Word Origin for area

C16: from Latin: level ground, open space, threshing-floor; related to ārēre to be dry

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for area

area

1530s, "vacant piece of ground," from Latin area "level ground, open space," used of building sites, playgrounds, threshing floors, etc.; of uncertain origin. Perhaps related to arere "to become dry," on notion of a burned clearing or dry, bare space. The generic sense of "amount of surface (whether open or not) contained within any set of limits" is from 1845. Area code in North American telephone systems is attested from 1959.

Medicine definitions for area

area

[âr′ē-ə]

n. pl. ar•e•as

A circumscribed surface or space.

All of a part that is supplied by a given artery or nerve.

A part of an organ having a special function.

Science definitions for area

area

[âr′ē-ə]

The extent of a surface or plane figure as measured in square units.

Idioms and Phrases with area

area

see gray area.

area

noun

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Nearby words

Origin of area

Examples from the Web for area

area

noun

Word Origin for area

area

area

n. pl. ar•e•as

area

area