area
Americannoun
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any particular extent of space or surface; part.
the dark areas in the painting;
the dusty area of the room.
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a geographical region; tract: the unsettled areas along the frontier.
the Chicago area;
the unsettled areas along the frontier.
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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.
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extent, range, or scope.
inquiries that embrace the whole area of science.
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field of study, or a branch of a field of study.
Related areas of inquiry often reflect borrowed notions.
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a piece of unoccupied ground; an open space.
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the space or site on which a building stands; the yard attached to or surrounding a house.
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British. areaway.
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the quantitative measure of a plane or curved surface; two-dimensional extent.
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Anatomy. a zone of the cerebral cortex having a specific function.
The damage to Broca's area affected his speech.
noun
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any flat, curved, or irregular expanse of a surface
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the extent of a two-dimensional surface enclosed within a specified boundary or geometric figure
the area of Ireland
the area of a triangle
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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
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a section, portion, or part
an area of the body
an area of the sky
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region; district; locality
a mountainous area
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a geographical division of administrative responsibility
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( as modifier )
area manager
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a part or section, as of a building, town, etc, having some specified function or characteristic
reception area
commercial area
slum area
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Also called: areaway. a sunken area, usually enclosed, giving light, air, and sometimes access to a cellar or basement
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the range, extent, or scope of anything
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a subject field or field of study
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any unoccupied or unused flat open piece of ground
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the ground on which a building stands, or the ground surrounding a building
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anatomy any of the various regions of the cerebral cortex
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computing any part of a computer memory assigned to store data of a specified type
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
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.
Vocabulary lists containing area
Middle School Geometry, List 1
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Geometry - Introductory
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Scrabble: Four-Letter Words with 3 Vowels
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Ernie and Samantha Solis both grew up in the San Jose area and lived in the city for the early years of their two sons’ lives.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026
When they arrived, they found around 300 people fleeing the area, the report said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 26, 2026
The main fire in the southwest Gironde region, where Bordeaux is located, was "extremely intense and unpredictable... generating its own winds and advancing erratically toward the Bordeaux metropolitan area", he said on X.
From Barron's ● Jul. 26, 2026
"I would like to reassure the community that we are working to trace the person responsible and will continue to carry out inquiries in the local area," he said.
From BBC ● Jul. 26, 2026
No matter, none of those names were recognized by anyone in the area.
From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock
Alphabet Chief Financial Officer Anat Ashkenazi said the technology company expects to continue hiring in key investment areas such as AI and cloud computing.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026
Some areas, particularly in parts of north Wales and southern and eastern England, have recorded only a few millimetres of rain or even less.
From BBC ● Jul. 26, 2026
Hundreds of homes have been destroyed in surrounding areas, but Bordeaux's mayor said there were no plans to evacuate the urban area, home to 850,000 people and currently sheltering thousands evacuated from zones close by.
From Barron's ● Jul. 26, 2026
It’s not all bad for bulls, however, there are areas they can hide out to stay in the equity game.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 26, 2026
The Common Core Standards, however, are only written for English Language Arts and Mathematics, with no further intent to include other subject areas.
From "Music and the Child" by Natalie Sarrazin
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
