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.

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

Related Words for area

field, operation, range, space, sector, city, square, neighborhood, zone, locality, section, county, state, territory, township, breadth, distance, stretch, expanse, sphere

Examples from the Web for area

Contemporary Examples of 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
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
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
The area is 98 percent white, and the Klan has a strong foothold even to this very day.
What Would Happen if I Got in White Cop’s Face?
Goldie Taylor
December 30, 2014
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

Historical Examples of area

The direction of the wind is from the area of high barometer to that of low.
Scientific American Supplement, No. 433, April 19, 1884
Various
Take two aeroplanes of marked difference in area of surface.
Flying Machines
W.J. Jackman and Thos. H. Russell
In April, 2151, I set up my laboratory on the edge of the area of death.
City of Endless Night
Milo Hastings
It was well away from the area where the men had fought the flames.
Pee-wee Harris
Percy Keese Fitzhugh
But Balbus expressly said that the walk "used up the whole of the area."
A Tangled Tale
Lewis Carroll

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

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.

area in Medicine