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area - 8 dictionary results
area
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ar⋅e⋅a

  [air-ee-uh]
Use area in a Sentence
–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 Chicago area; the unsettled areas along the frontier.
3. any section reserved for a specific function: 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 (def. 1).
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.
Origin:
1530–40; < L ārea vacant piece of level ground, open space in a town, threshing floor; perh. akin to ārēre to be dry. See arid

Related forms:
ar⋅e⋅al, adjective
ar⋅e⋅al⋅ly, adverb
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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ar·e·a   (âr'ē-ə)   


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n.  
  1. A roughly bounded part of the space on a surface; a region: a farming area; the New York area.
  2. A surface, especially an open, unoccupied piece of ground: a landing area; a playing area.
  3. A distinct part or section, as of a building, set aside for a specific function: a storage area in the basement.
  4. A division of experience, activity, or knowledge; a field: studies in the area of finance; a job in the health-care area.
  5. An open, sunken space next to a building; an areaway.
  6. Abbr. A The extent of a planar region or of the surface of a solid measured in square units.
  7. Computer Science A section of storage set aside for a particular purpose.

[Latin ārea, open space; possibly akin to ārēre, to be dry; see arid.]
ar'e·al adj., ar'e·al·ly adv.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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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.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : area
Spanish: área, superficie,
German: die Fläche,
Japanese: 面積
More Translations »

area 
1538, "vacant piece of ground," from L. area "level ground, open space," of uncertain origin. Perhaps related to arere "to become dry," on notion of a burned clearing or dry, bare space. The generic sense of "amount of surface (whether open or not) contained within any set of limits" is from 1845. Area code in N.Amer. telephone systems is attested from 1961.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Main Entry: ar·ea
Pronunciation: 'ar-E-&, 'er-
Function: noun
: a part of the cerebral cortex having a particular function —see ASSOCIATION AREA, MOTOR AREA, SENSORY AREA
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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area ar·e·a (âr'ē-ə)
n. pl. ar·e·as or ar·e·ae (-ē-ē')

  1. A circumscribed surface or space.
  2. All of a part that is supplied by a given artery or nerve.
  3. A part of an organ having a special function.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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area   (âr'ē-ə)  Pronunciation Key 
The extent of a surface or plane figure as measured in square units.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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area

see gray area.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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