article

American  

[ahr-ti-kuhl] / ˈɑr tɪ kəl /

noun

articles plural

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: articles of clothing.

   an article of food;

   articles of clothing.

3. something of indefinite character or description.

   What is that article?

4. an item for sale; commodity.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. a separate clause or provision of a statute.

8. Slang. a person.

   Trust me, this guy's not just any article, he's Mr. Right.

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

10. Obsolete. a specific or critical point of time; juncture or moment.

    the article of death.

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verb (used with object)

articled, articling

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.

article British  

/ 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

3. a distinct part of a subject or action

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

5. 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

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

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

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

9. archaic a topic or subject

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verb

1. archaic to accuse

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• subarticle
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• articles
  plural

Etymology

Origin of article

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-, arm ² ) + -culus diminutive ( see -cule ¹)

Explanation

A piece of non-fiction prose written for a publication is one kind of article. But a piece of a collection of something is also an article, like an article of clothing. If you're talking grammar, definite and indefinite articles are words, such as a, an, and the, whose purpose is to indicate, specify and limit a noun. An article of faith is something that is firmly believed. And an article of organization or incorporation is a section of a legal document that sets out rules for a company.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

article articles articled articling

An earlier version of this article incorrectly said revenue declined 1.8%.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026

In the aforementioned Vogue article, Charli played the interviewer a track called Rock Music, featuring the lyric: "I think the dancefloor is dead, so now we're making rock music".

From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026

During the Starship portion of the mission, the SpaceX test article will control the connected vehicles.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 23, 2026

The article became fodder for questions Wednesday before the Fever’s 123-88 victory against the Connecticut Sun.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026

“U.S. Air Force planes circled over the mountainous wilds of southeastern Turkey today searching for an experimental jet plane that vanished with its pilot three days ago,” the article began.

From "Fallout: Spies, Superbombs, and the Ultimate Cold War Showdown" by Steve Sheinkin

Days before, he had helped to write articles about security concerns involving a jet gifted to the U.S. by the Qatari government that was being used as Air Force One.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026

The debate will continue in the courts, which are also looking at other copyrighted works such as news articles and movies.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026

For Artemis III, both companies will launch test versions, known as test articles, of the landers intended for later crewed missions.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 23, 2026

The tournament produced a spike in the sales of fake shirts and kits, but the Fire Service has warned that these items are far more flammable and dangerous than the genuine articles.

From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2026

I skimmed the results, and they were all articles about how Lucy had died.

From "From the Desk of Zoe Washington" by Janae Marks

An earlier version of this articled misidentified the president whom Michael Jordan skipped out on meeting.

From New York Times ● Jun. 4, 2018

After leaving school in 1944 to become articled to a firm of accountants, he continued with semi-professional "vent shows" several nights a week.

From The Guardian ● Feb. 20, 2013

Briefly Frank was articled to a Cheltenham estate agent, before joining the Stroud News as a local reporter in 1956.

From The Guardian ● Jan. 25, 2013

Son of a British actor, Herbert Marshall fitted himself, at St. Mary's College, to be an articled clerk.

From Time Magazine Archive

He would talk to Sidelsky about taking me on as an articled clerk.

From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela

Fortunately he went on probation of three weeks before articling.

From Studies in the Psychology of Sex, Volume 2 Sexual Inversion by Ellis, Havelock

If we demur to a doctrine because we cannot fully and adequately comprehend it, is not this too familiar from a creature towards his Creator, and articling more strictly with Almighty God than becomes us?'

From The English Church in the Eighteenth Century by Abbey, Charles J. (Charles John)

Related Words

• column
• commentary
• editorial
• essay
• feature
• item
• paper
• piece
• story