article

[ ahr-ti-kuhl ]
See synonyms for: articlearticledarticles on Thesaurus.com

noun
  1. a written composition in prose, usually nonfiction, on a specific topic, forming an independent part of a book or other publication, as a newspaper or magazine.

  2. an individual object, member, or portion of a class; an item or particular: an article of food;articles of clothing.

  1. something of indefinite character or description: What is that article?

  2. an item for sale; commodity.

  3. Grammar. any member of a small class of words, or, as in Swedish or Romanian, affixes, found in certain languages, as English, French, and Arabic, that are linked to nouns and that typically have a grammatical function identifying the noun as a noun rather than describing it. In English the definite article is the, the indefinite article is a or an, and their force is generally to impart specificity to the noun or to single out the referent from the class named by the noun.

  4. a clause, item, point, or particular in a contract, treaty, or other formal agreement; a condition or stipulation in a contract or bargain: The lawyers disagreed on the article covering plagiarism suits.

  5. a separate clause or provision of a statute.

  6. Slang. a person: Trust me, this guy's not just any article, he's Mr. Right.

  7. Archaic. a subject or matter of interest, thought, business, etc.

  8. Obsolete. a specific or critical point of time; juncture or moment: the article of death.

verb (used with object),ar·ti·cled, ar·ti·cling.
  1. to set forth in articles; charge or accuse specifically: They articled his alleged crimes.

  2. to bind by articles of covenant or stipulation: to article an apprentice.

Origin of article

1
First recorded in 1200–50; Middle English, from Anglo-French, Medieval Latin articulus “article of faith,” Latin: “joint, limb, member, clause, grammatical article,” equivalent to arti- (combining form of artus “joint”; akin to arthro-, arm2) + -culus diminutive (see -cule1)

Other words from article

  • sub·ar·ti·cle, noun

Words Nearby article

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use article in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for article

article

/ (ˈɑːtɪkəl) /


noun
  1. one of a class of objects; item: an article of clothing

  2. an unspecified or previously named thing, esp a small object: he put the article on the table

  1. a distinct part of a subject or action

  2. a written composition on a subject, often being one of several found in a magazine, newspaper, etc

  3. grammar a kind of determiner, occurring in many languages including English, that lacks independent meaning but may serve to indicate the specificity of reference of the noun phrase with which it occurs: See also definite article, indefinite article

  4. a clause or section in a written document such as a treaty, contract, statute, etc

  5. in articles formerly, undergoing training, according to the terms of a written contract, in the legal profession

  6. (often capital) Christianity See article of faith, Thirty-nine Articles

  7. archaic a topic or subject

verb(tr)
  1. archaic to accuse

Origin of article

1
C13: from Old French, from Latin articulus small joint, from artus joint

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