apartment

[uh-pahrt-muhnt]

noun

1. a room or a group of related rooms, among similar sets in one building, designed for use as a dwelling.

2. a building containing or made up of such rooms.

3. any separated room or group of rooms in a house or other dwelling.

   We heard cries from an apartment at the back of the house.

4. British.,  apartments, a set of rooms used as a dwelling by one person or one family.

apartment

/ əˈpɑːtmənt /

noun

1. (often plural) any room in a building, usually one of several forming a suite, esp one that is spacious and well furnished and used as living accommodation, offices, etc

2. 1. another name (esp US and Canadian) for flat 2

   2. ( as modifier )

      apartment building

      apartment house

Other Word Forms

• apartmental adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of apartment¹

1635–45; < French appartement < Italian appartamento, equivalent to apparta ( re ) to separate, divide (verbal derivative of a parte apart, to one side) + -mento -ment

Word History and Origins

Origin of apartment¹

C17: from French appartement, from Italian appartamento, from appartare to set on one side, separate

Example Sentences

The young couple fall into lust, then love, over beers in a Latin American cowboy bar, Uyghur street food and then in a shabby basement apartment.

From Los Angeles Times

I just moved into a 1895 Craftsman apartment, and when we first moved in, I didn’t have a single piece of furniture.

From Los Angeles Times

One particular moment, where Mary takes Robert to see a London apartment, reveals their generational tension.

From Los Angeles Times

“We are being told that if we go back to school we are going to be evicted from the apartment,” he said.

From Los Angeles Times

I built furniture in my apartment out of stacks of L.A.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• co-op 
• condo 
• condominium 
• cooperative 
• flat 
• suite