area

American  

[air-ee-uh] / ˈɛər i ə /

noun

• areas
  plural

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.

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area British  

/ 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

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area Scientific  

/ âr′ē-ə /

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

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area Idioms  

1. see gray area.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• areal
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• areas
  plural

Etymology

Origin of area

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”; see also arid

Explanation

The area is a part of a place, usually defined by a function. If you can't stop talking, don't sit in the quiet area of the library. In Latin, area means a vacant piece of ground, but we use it in English to talk about a region or place that's a subset of another larger region. The boarding area in the airport is the space right next to the door. Area is also used to describe topics or subjects of study or work. Within a big history department, professors have different areas of specialty, from medieval economics to urban American politics.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

area areas

Ishrat Ansari, 49, said she set off at dawn from her home in the north of the capital, walking 9 miles to reach the protest area.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 10, 2026

"While more study is needed, we are excited by these results, and they suggest a clear path forward for future research in this area," said Menard.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 10, 2026

Daniel Magaña, 40, died Sept. 5 at an area hospital, about 10 days after he was found unresponsive in his cell at Twin Towers Correctional Facility, according to relatives.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 10, 2026

Ocha said in a statement that the area reportedly struck on Friday had been "under sustained atttack in recent weeks, displacing thousands of civilians and exposing many more to grave harm".

From BBC ● Oct. 10, 2026

All of the rumors are virtually unfounded but they rip through the area as they did at Rainy Pass and I leave the checkpoint at dawn to head across the ice with some doubt.

From "Woodsong" by Gary Paulsen

Even normally dry areas near the coast could see dangerous surges.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 10, 2026

Authorities are still assessing the damage in remote areas.

From Barron's ● Oct. 10, 2026

A bit more rain is expected in Orange County with coastal areas receiving anywhere from half an inch to an inch over the weekend and into early next week.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 10, 2026

This profile was associated with more severe symptoms across several areas, including depression, anxiety, rumination, and reduced ability to function in daily life.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 9, 2026

He was trying desperately to cultivate a mustache on his upper lip and had filled in the empty areas with what looked like brown shoe polish.

From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros

Related Words

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