Adjacent Words

Area definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

A'REA, n. [L. I suspect this to be contracted from Heb. from a root which signifies to reach, stretch, lay or spread.]
1. Any plain surface, as the floor of a room, of a church or other building, or of the ground.
2. The space or site on which a building stands; or of any inclosure.
3. In geometry, the superficial contents of any figure; the surface included within any given lines; as the area of a square or a triangle.
4. Among physicians, baldness; an empty space; a bald space produced by alopeey; also a name of the disease.
5. In mining, a compass of ore allotted to diggers.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a particular geographical region of indefinite boundary (usually serving some special purpose or distinguished by its people or culture or geography); "it was a mountainous area"; "Bible country" [syn: area, country]
2: a subject of study; "it was his area of specialization"; "areas of interest include..."
3: a part of an animal that has a special function or is supplied by a given artery or nerve; "in the abdominal region" [syn: area, region]
4: a particular environment or walk of life; "his social sphere is limited"; "it was a closed area of employment"; "he's out of my orbit" [syn: sphere, domain, area, orbit, field, arena]
5: a part of a structure having some specific characteristic or function; "the spacious cooking area provided plenty of room for servants"
6: the extent of a 2-dimensional surface enclosed within a boundary; "the area of a rectangle"; "it was about 500 square feet in area" [syn: area, expanse, surface area]

Merriam Webster's

noun Etymology: Latin, open space, threshing floor; perhaps akin to Latin ar?re to be dry — more at arid Date: 1538 1. a level piece of ground 2. the surface included within a set of lines; specifically the number of unit squares equal in measure to the surface — see metric system table, weight table 3. the scope of a concept, operation, or activity ; field <the whole area of foreign policy> 4. areaway 5. a particular extent of space or surface or one serving a special function: as a. a part of the surface of the body b. a geographic region 6. a part of the cerebral cortex having a particular function • areal adjective • areally adverb

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. 1 the extent or measure of a surface (over a large area; 3 acres in area; the area of a triangle). 2 a region or tract (the southern area). 3 a space allocated for a specific purpose (dining area; camping area). 4 the scope or range of an activity or study. 5 US a space below ground level in front of the basement of a building. 6 (prec. by the) Football = penalty area. Derivatives: areal adj. Etymology: L, = vacant piece of level ground

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Area A"re*a ([=a]"r[-e]*[.a]; 277), n.; pl. Areas (-[.a]z) . [L. area a broad piece of level ground. Cf. Are, n.] 1. Any plane surface, as of the floor of a room or church, or of the ground within an inclosure; an open space in a building. The Alban lake . . . looks like the area of some vast amphitheater. --Addison. 2. The inclosed space on which a building stands. 3. The sunken space or court, giving ingress and affording light to the basement of a building. 4. An extent of surface; a tract of the earth's surface; a region; as, vast uncultivated areas. 5. (Geom.) The superficial contents of any figure; the surface included within any given lines; superficial extent; as, the area of a square or a triangle. 6. (Biol.) A spot or small marked space; as, the germinative area. 7. Extent; scope; range; as, a wide area of thought. The largest area of human history and man's common nature. --F. Harrison. Dry area. See under Dry.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(areas) Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English. 1. An area is a particular part of a town, a country, a region, or the world. ...the large number of community groups in the area... 60 years ago half the French population still lived in rural areas. N-COUNT 2. Your area is the part of a town, country, or region where you live. An organization's area is the part of a town, country, or region that it is responsible for. Local authorities have been responsible for the running of schools in their areas... If there is an election in your area, you should go and vote. N-COUNT: poss N 3. A particular area is a piece of land or part of a building that is used for a particular activity. ...a picnic area. ...the main check-in area located in Terminal 1. N-COUNT: supp N 4. An area is a particular place on a surface or object, for example on your body. You will notice that your baby has two soft areas on the top of his head. N-COUNT: with supp 5. The area of a surface such as a piece of land is the amount of flat space or ground that it covers, measured in square units. The islands cover a total area of 625.6 square kilometers... N-VAR 6. You can use area to refer to a particular subject or topic, or to a particular part of a larger, more general situation or activity. ...the politically sensitive area of old age pensions. N-COUNT: usu with supp 7. On a football pitch, the area is the same as the penalty area. (INFORMAL) = box N-COUNT: usu sing, the N 8. see also catchment area, disaster area, grey area, penalty area

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. 1. Region, sphere, realm, territory, domain, district, circuit, circle, definite space. 2. Yard, kitchen-yard, sunken space adjoining the basement. 3. (Geom.) Superficial contents, superficies, surface.

Moby Thesaurus

abode, academic discipline, academic specialty, acreage, airspace, amplitude, applied science, arena, arrondissement, art, bag, bailiwick, bearings, beat, belt, bench mark, bigness, block, body, breadth, bulk, caliber, circuit, classical education, close, compass, concern, confines, continental shelf, continuum, core curriculum, corridor, country, course, course of study, court, courtyard, coverage, cup of tea, curriculum, demesne, department, department of knowledge, depth, diameter, dimension, dimensions, discipline, district, division, domain, elective, emplacement, emptiness, empty space, enclosure, environs, expanse, expansion, extension, extent, field, field of inquiry, field of study, forte, galactic space, gauge, general education, general studies, girth, greatness, ground, heartland, height, hinterland, hole, humanities, infinite space, interstellar space, land, largeness, latitude and longitude, length, liberal arts, lieu, limit, line, locale, locality, location, locus, long suit, lot, magnitude, main interest, major, manner, mass, measure, measurement, metier, milieu, minor, natural science, neighborhood, nothingness, offshore rights, ology, orb, orbit, outer space, parade, part, parts, pet subject, pinpoint, place, placement, plot, point, position, precinct, precincts, premises, proportion, proportions, proseminar, province, pure science, purlieus, pursuit, quadrivium, quarter, radius, range, reach, realm, refresher course, region, room, round, salient, scale, science, scientific education, scope, section, seminar, site, situation, situs, size, social science, soil, space, spatial extension, specialism, speciality, specialization, specialty, sphere, spot, spread, square, stead, stretch, strong point, study, style, subdiscipline, subject, superficial extension, surface, technical education, technicality, technicology, technics, technology, terrain, territory, thing, three-mile limit, tract, trivium, twelve-mile limit, type, vicinage, vicinity, vocation, void, volume, walk, way, weakness, whereabout, whereabouts, width, yard, zone