area

[air-ee-uh]

noun

1. any particular extent of space or surface; part.

   the dark areas in the painting;

   the dusty area of the room.

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

   the Chicago area;

   the unsettled areas along the frontier.

3. any section reserved for a specific function: the dining area of a house.

   the business area of a town;

   the dining area of a house.

4. extent, range, or scope.

   inquiries that embrace the whole area of science.

5. field of study, or a branch of a field of study.

   Related areas of inquiry often reflect borrowed notions.

6. a piece of unoccupied ground; an open space.

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

8. British.,  areaway.

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

10. Anatomy.,  a zone of the cerebral cortex having a specific function.

    The damage to Broca's area affected his speech.

area

/ ˈɛərɪə /

noun

1. any flat, curved, or irregular expanse of a surface

2. 1. the extent of a two-dimensional surface enclosed within a specified boundary or geometric figure

      the area of Ireland

      the area of a triangle

   2. the two-dimensional extent of the surface of a solid, or of some part thereof, esp one bounded by a closed curve

      the area of a sphere

3. a section, portion, or part

   an area of the body

   an area of the sky

4. region; district; locality

   a mountainous area

5. 1. a geographical division of administrative responsibility

   2. ( as modifier )

      area manager

6. a part or section, as of a building, town, etc, having some specified function or characteristic

   reception area

   commercial area

   slum area

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

8. the range, extent, or scope of anything

9. a subject field or field of study

10. any unoccupied or unused flat open piece of ground

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

12. anatomy any of the various regions of the cerebral cortex

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

area

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

Other Word Forms

• areal adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of area¹

First recorded in 1530–40; fram Latin ārea “vacant piece of level ground, open space in a town, threshing floor”; perhaps akin to ārēre “to be dry”; arid

Word History and Origins

Origin of area¹

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

Idioms and Phrases

see gray area.

Example Sentences

Drones over civilian areas present governments with a conundrum of how to respond.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Investigators allege both foundries in Paramount failed to conduct tests to ensure compliance with hexavalent chromium emission limits, did not properly clean areas near chrome-alloy-melting facilities and operated equipment without necessary permits.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

But in recent years firms have been moving that work into much more remote areas, where costs for staff and space are lower.

Read more on BBC

Last year an area of the world's forests larger than Scotland was cleared primarily to make way for agriculture, according to an annual deforestation assessment by a broad global coalition of researchers and activists.

Read more on Barron's

Authorities had been warned of the risk of attack in the area, he said.

Read more on Barron's

Related Words

• city 
• county 
• field 
• locality 
• neighborhood 
• section 
• sector 
• square 
• state 
• territory 
• township 
• zone