diary
Americannoun
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diaries
plural
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a daily record, usually private, especially of the writer's own experiences, observations, feelings, attitudes, etc.
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a book for keeping such a record.
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a book or pad containing pages marked and arranged in calendar order, in which to note appointments and the like.
noun
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a personal record of daily events, appointments, observations, etc
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a book for keeping such a record
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of diary
1575–85; < Latin diārium daily allowance, journal, equivalent to di ( ēs ) day + -ārium -ary
Explanation
Dear diary, you are a written record of things that happen each day. Some people keep a diary while they’re traveling, others keep their secrets in a diary. Either way, keep out! Some diaries have a pretty cover and a tiny lock with a key, for keeping the contents safe from prying eyes. You can also call such a book a "journal," although traditionally a diary is written in each day, while a journal might have less frequent entries. The word diary comes from the Latin word diarium, "daily allowance," with its root of dies, or "day."
Vocabulary lists containing diary
TEKS ELAR Academic Vocabulary List (5th-7th grades)
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Lesson 2–3
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Excerpt from "Kira-Kira"
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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:
After I read the diary, my efforts to evaluate the government’s response shifted from assessing operational efficacy to diagnosing a crisis of institutional legitimacy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 18, 2026
Det Con Tom Ryan said the discovery of the diary entry was a "game-changer"
From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026
Prior to the hearing, Paul released thousands of pages of the immunologist's personal diary.
From Barron's ● Aug. 6, 2026
Rather, the deeply personal and varied work—textiles, furniture, drawing and prints, videos and installations—adds up to an intimate diary of an artist for whom art and life have always been inseparable.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026
Rather than leave the diary behind in his room, Father Julien carries it with him under his robes.
From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly
Anthony Fauci’s diaries tell us what we already knew: Behind every public official’s confident assertions is a fallible human being.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 18, 2026
The answer seems clear to me: The only professionals who keep diaries believe that future historians are going to be interested in them.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026
In her teenage years, she doodled poems in her diaries and made up verses about physics to help her remember things for her exams.
From BBC ● Jul. 26, 2026
Carter worked as a PA for business executives and, as well as keeping their diaries in order, began making sure their homes were too.
From BBC ● Jun. 28, 2026
On each occasion, he was either reading or scribbling in his diaries.
From "The Long-Lost Home" by Maryrose Wood
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.
