journal
Americannoun
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journals
plural
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a daily record, as of occurrences, experiences, or observations.
She kept a journal during her European trip.
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a newspaper, especially a daily one.
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a periodical or magazine, especially one published for a special group, learned society, or profession.
the October issue of The English Journal.
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a record, usually daily, of the proceedings and transactions of a legislative body, an organization, etc.
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Bookkeeping.
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a daybook.
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(in the double-entry method) a book into which all transactions are entered from the daybook or blotter to facilitate posting into the ledger.
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Nautical. a log or logbook.
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Machinery. the portion of a shaft or axle contained by a plain bearing.
verb (used without object)
noun
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a newspaper or periodical
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a book in which a daily record of happenings, etc, is kept
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an official record of the proceedings of a legislative body
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accounting
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Also called: Book of Original Entry. one of several books in which transactions are initially recorded to facilitate subsequent entry in the ledger
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another name for daybook
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the part of a shaft or axle in contact with or enclosed by a bearing
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a plain cylindrical bearing to support a shaft or axle
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of journal
First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English, from Old French journal “daily,” from Late Latin diurnālis; see diurnal
Explanation
If you keep a daily––or at least somewhat regular––written account of your life, you are keeping a diary or journal. A journal is also a periodical, such as a scientific journal or a scholarly journal. Journal comes from an Old French word which meant daily (jour being the French word for day, as in soup du jour, or “soup of the day”). You can keep a journal in an old notebook, on the computer, or on scraps of paper, but if you keep it in a book made especially for that purpose, then that physical book (whether you've written in it or not) is called a journal.
Vocabulary lists containing journal
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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:
But research in one medical journal in 2016, The Obstetrical & Gynecological Survey, put the figure at around 1,100.
From BBC ● Nov. 7, 2026
Published in The Accounting Review, a leading academic journal focused on financial disclosure, the study uses machine-learning tools to compare the Chinese- and English-language versions of annual reports filed by Chinese companies.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 3, 2026
The findings were published in the journal Scientific Reports.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 31, 2026
“The Idiot” was first published in monthly installments in the prominent literary journal the Russian Messenger from 1868 to 1869.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2026
The children huddled around their father as he took the journal.
From "The Wild Robot Escapes" by Peter Brown
Some extremists like to shout their most extreme views, while others express them in niche journals or in private, among well-heeled friends.
From Slate ● Nov. 3, 2026
Among the so-called alternative journals that sprang up then was Gandalf’s Garden, named for the wizard from the books.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2026
Kobak is among many researchers who worries that AI is slowly killing scientific journals.
From BBC ● Oct. 28, 2026
In 1960, Science, one of the world’s leading science journals, published an article with an unambiguous title: Doomsday: Friday, 13 November, A.D.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 17, 2026
For Kamookak, a vital part of that search was comparing Inuit stories with the logbooks and journals written by the many explorers who had gone looking for Franklin.
From "Shipwrecked!" by Martin W. Sandler
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
