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Synonyms

area

American  
[air-ee-uh] / ˈɛər i ə /

noun

  1. any particular extent of space or surface; part.

    the dark areas in the painting;

    the dusty area of the room.

  2. a geographical region; tract: the unsettled areas along the frontier.

    the Chicago area;

    the unsettled areas along the frontier.

  3. any section reserved for a specific function: the dining area of a house.

    the business area of a town;

    the dining area of a house.

  4. extent, range, or scope.

    inquiries that embrace the whole area of science.

  5. field of study, or a branch of a field of study.

    Related areas of inquiry often reflect borrowed notions.

  6. a piece of unoccupied ground; an open space.

  7. the space or site on which a building stands; the yard attached to or surrounding a house.

  8. British. areaway.

  9. the quantitative measure of a plane or curved surface; two-dimensional extent.

  10. Anatomy. a zone of the cerebral cortex having a specific function.

    The damage to Broca's area affected his speech.


area British  
/ ˈɛərɪə /

noun

  1. any flat, curved, or irregular expanse of a surface

    1. the extent of a two-dimensional surface enclosed within a specified boundary or geometric figure

      the area of Ireland

      the area of a triangle

    2. the two-dimensional extent of the surface of a solid, or of some part thereof, esp one bounded by a closed curve

      the area of a sphere

  2. a section, portion, or part

    an area of the body

    an area of the sky

  3. region; district; locality

    a mountainous area

    1. a geographical division of administrative responsibility

    2. ( as modifier )

      area manager

  4. a part or section, as of a building, town, etc, having some specified function or characteristic

    reception area

    commercial area

    slum area

  5. Also called: areaway.  a sunken area, usually enclosed, giving light, air, and sometimes access to a cellar or basement

  6. the range, extent, or scope of anything

  7. a subject field or field of study

  8. any unoccupied or unused flat open piece of ground

  9. the ground on which a building stands, or the ground surrounding a building

  10. anatomy any of the various regions of the cerebral cortex

  11. computing any part of a computer memory assigned to store data of a specified type

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

area Scientific  
/ ârē-ə /
  1. The extent of a surface or plane figure as measured in square units.


area Idioms  
  1. see gray area.


Other Word Forms

  • areal adjective

Etymology

Origin of area

First recorded in 1530–40; fram Latin ārea “vacant piece of level ground, open space in a town, threshing floor”; perhaps akin to ārēre “to be dry”; arid

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.

The Greater Los Angeles area is home to the largest concentration of people of Iranian descent outside Iran.

From Los Angeles Times

They are in a building with wooden ceiling beams, in an area that appears to be partitioned off with black curtains, with at least one security agent on the perimeter.

From Barron's

But, over the next 30 years, Khamenei developed networks of loyalists in every area of the Iranian establishment - including parliament, the judiciary, the police, the media, and the clerical elite.

From BBC

And areas of the brain linked with "ruminating on negative thoughts" are less active when looking at, or being in, nature, Setti adds.

From BBC

On this particular weekend, supplies at one of the drop sites had already been used, indicating people may be crossing in the area.

From Los Angeles Times