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
TEKS ELAR Academic Vocabulary List (5th-7th grades)
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Hole in My Life
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Writing - Introductory
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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:
Volunteer Laurie Bolewitz whipped out a journal and read to us original spooky stories she wrote.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2026
In a study published in the journal Evolution, researchers from the American Museum of Natural History and Princeton University used mathematical models to examine how body size evolved among vertebrates.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 9, 2026
Published July 31 in the Cell Press journal Cell Press Blue, the review examines how reducing protein may influence aging.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 2, 2026
In the 1930s, in the pages of the journal Economica, Keynes and Hayek fiercely debated the functions of savings, consumption and stimulus programs during economic downturns.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026
“I have written here that you hadn’t used the journal yet, and you’d give some more thought as to what some of your automatic negative thoughts might be.”
From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam
The bureaucratic, multistep process for bringing new shots to market used to be the uncontroversial stuff of trade publications and medical journals, not national news.
From Slate ● Aug. 6, 2026
The findings have been published in eClinicalMedicine, part of the Lancet group of journals.
From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2026
The diminishing returns of instant gratification might explain why catalogs are nearly always, according to trade publications and business journals, on the verge of a renaissance.
From Salon ● Jul. 18, 2026
Three scientific journals are already testing the system as part of their editorial review process.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 16, 2026
Ms. Smith has us do grammar exercises with sentences we’ve written in our journals.
From "Sparrow" by Sarah Moon
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.
