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5,591 results for: area

Dictionary Entries (15 more entries. View all »)
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source
ar·e·a    Audio Help   [air-ee-uh] Pronunciation Key
–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 ārére to be dry. See arid]

—Related forms
ar·e·al, adjective
ar·e·al·ly, adverb
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Thesaurus Entries (1 more entry. View all »)
  Roget's II: The New Thesaurus - Cite This Source
Main Entry:  area
Part of Speech:  noun
Definition:  A part of the earth's surface.
Synonyms:  belt, district, locality, neighborhood, quarter, region, tract, zone
Source:  Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition
by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary.
Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

  Roget's II: The New Thesaurus - Cite This Source
Main Entry:  area
Part of Speech:  noun
Definition:  A sphere of activity, experience, study, or interest.
Synonyms:  arena, bailiwick, circle, department, domain, field, orbit, province, realm, scene, subject, terrain, territory, world
Source:  Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition
by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary.
Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

  Roget's II: The New Thesaurus - Cite This Source
Main Entry:  locality
Part of Speech:  noun
Definition:  A surrounding site.
Synonyms:  neighborhood, vicinity
Source:  Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition
by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary.
Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.


Encyclopedia Articles (5,570 more entries. View all »)
Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia - Cite This Source

area, measure of the size of a surface region, usually expressed in units that are the square of linear units, e.g., square feet or square meters. In elementary geometry, formulas for the areas of the simple plane figures and the surface areas of simple solids are derived from the linear dimensions of these figures. Examples are given in the table entitled Formulas for Various Areas. The areas of irregular figures, plane or solid, can be computed or closely approximated by the use of integral calculus.

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia Copyright © 2004, Columbia University Press.
Licensed from Columbia University Press


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