| any member of a class of words that in many languages are distinguished in form, as partly in English by having comparative and superlative endings, or by functioning as modifiers of nouns, as good, wise, perfect. |
| any member of a class of words that are formally distinguished in many languages, as in English by taking the past ending in -ed, that function as the main elements of predicates, that typically express action, state, or a relation between two things, and |
article (ˈɑːtɪkəl) ![]() | |
| —n | |
| 1. | one of a class of objects; item: an article of clothing |
| 2. | an unspecified or previously named thing, esp a small object: he put the article on the table |
| 3. | a distinct part of a subject or action |
| 4. | a written composition on a subject, often being one of several found in a magazine, newspaper, etc |
| 5. | grammar definite article See also indefinite article a kind of determiner, occurring in many languages including English, that lacks independent meaning but may serve to indicate the specificity of reference of the noun phrase with which it occurs |
| 6. | a clause or section in a written document such as a treaty, contract, statute, etc |
| 7. | in articles formerly, undergoing training, according to the terms of a written contract, in the legal profession |
| 8. | (often capital) Christianity article of faith See Thirty-nine Articles |
| 9. | archaic a topic or subject |
| —vb | |
| 10. | archaic to accuse |
| [C13: from Old French, from Latin articulus small joint, from artus joint] | |