[n., v. ahy-tuh
m; adv. ahy-tem] 
| 1. | a separate article or particular: 50 items on the list. |
| 2. | a separate piece of information or news, as a short piece in a newspaper or broadcast. |
| 3. | Slang. something suitable for a news paragraph or as a topic of gossip, esp. something that is sensational or scandalous: The bandleader and the new female singer are an item. |
| 4. | a word formerly used in communications to represent the letter I. |
| 5. | an admonition or warning. |
| 6. | Older Use. an intimation or hint. |
| 7. | also; likewise (used esp. to introduce each article or statement in a list or series). |
| 8. | to set down or enter as an item, or by or in items. |
| 9. | to make a note of. |
| i·tem (ī'təm) n.
tr.v. i·temed, i·tem·ing, i·tems Archaic To compute. [From Middle English, also, moreover, from Latin; see i- in Indo-European roots.] Synonyms: These nouns denote an individual, often specialized element of a whole: a shopping list with many items; discussed the details of their trip; furnished the particulars of the accident. Word History: The word item seems to us to be very much a noun, whether it refers to an article in a collection or a bit of information. But it began its life in English (first recorded before 1398) as an adverb meaning "moreover, also, in addition." Item was typically used in front of each object listed in an inventory, as we might put also. This use in English simply reflects a meaning of the word in Latin. However, it is easy to see how item could be taken to stand for the thing that it preceded, and so we get, for example, the sense "an article included in an enumeration." The first such usages are found in the 16th century, while the sense "a bit of information" is not found until the 19th century. |
