apartment

noun

Simple meaning

A complete domicile occupying only part of a building.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

uhpahrtmuhnt

Say the bold part a little louder.

US device voice

IPA pronunciation (US)

əˈpɑɹtmənt

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

chiefly CanadaUSAustraliaPhilippines
A complete domicile occupying only part of a building, especially one for rent; a flat.
computingCOM
A conceptual space used for separation in the threading architecture. Objects in one apartment cannot directly access those in another, but must use a proxy.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty: B1 · Intermediate (estimated)
Frequency: Common
Typical Use: Varies by meaning

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: (chiefly Canada, US, Australia, Philippines) A complete domicile occupying only part of a building, especially one for rent; a flat.

Used this way, apartment is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone: Neutral
Formality: Neutral
Intensity: Not strongly marked
How common: Moderately common
Connotation: Matter-of-fact
Usage feel: Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

Suite

apartment houseroom apartmentbedroom apartment

Complete

apartment building

Other combinations

apartment blockssmall apartmentnew apartmentlarge apartment

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

apartment buildingnounCompound term
A building that is divided into apartments.
apartment housenounCompound term
A building that is divided into apartments.
duplex apartmentnounCompound term
An apartment having rooms on two floors that are connected by a staircase.
efficiency apartmentnounCompound term
A furnished apartment with a kitchenette and bathroom.
in the adjacent apartmentadverbCompound term
At or in or to the adjacent residence.
studio apartmentnounCompound term
An apartment with a living space and a bathroom and a small kitchen.

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.