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definitions

article

[ahr-ti-kuh l]
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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR article ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

verb (used with object), ar·ti·cled, ar·ti·cling.

to set forth in articles; charge or accuse specifically: They articled his alleged crimes.
to bind by articles of covenant or stipulation: to article an apprentice.

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RELATED WORDS

piece, essay, story, column, feature, item, paper, editorial, commentary, chapter, clause, detail, passage, provision, paragraph, substance, commodity, thing, thingamajig, unit

Origin of article

1200–50; Middle English < 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 -cule1
Related formssub·ar·ti·cle, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for article

Contemporary Examples of article

Historical Examples of article

  • Mr. Sperry was amused by the article, but distressingly perplexed by apprehensions concerning it.

    Recollections of a Varied Life

    George Cary Eggleston

  • I must tell you how greatly I am pleased and honoured by your article in 'Nature,' which I have just read.

  • Article 10 reserves the rights of Poland and declares that this Agreement shall not apply to her.

    A Revision of the Treaty

    John Maynard Keynes

  • He had the courage, the foolhardiness to sign his name to the article, thereby irrevocably committing himself to the propaganda.

    From the Housetops

    George Barr McCutcheon

  • I assumed in my speech that it was to be returned out, and that the constitution was to come here with that article rejected.

British Dictionary definitions for article

article

noun

one of a class of objects; iteman article of clothing
an unspecified or previously named thing, esp a small objecthe put the article on the table
a distinct part of a subject or action
a written composition on a subject, often being one of several found in a magazine, newspaper, etc
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 occursSee also definite article, indefinite article
a clause or section in a written document such as a treaty, contract, statute, etc
in articles formerly, undergoing training, according to the terms of a written contract, in the legal profession
(often capital) Christianity See article of faith, Thirty-nine Articles
archaic a topic or subject

verb (tr)

archaic to accuse

Word Origin for article

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
Word Origin and History for article
n.

c.1200, "separate parts of anything written" (e.g. the statements in the Apostles' Creed, the clauses of a statute or contract), from Old French article (13c.), from Latin articulus, diminutive of artus "a joint" (from PIE *ar-tu-, from *ar- "to fit together;" (see arm (n.1)).

Meaning extended to "a small division," then generalized to "item, thing." Older sense preserved in Articles of War "military regulations" (1716) and Articles of Confederation (U.S. history). Meaning "literary composition in a journal, etc." (independent, but part of a larger work) first recorded 1712. Meaning "piece of property" (clothing, etc.) first attested 1796, originally in rogue's cant.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper