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journal

noun · verb

Simple meaning

A daily written record of experiences and observations.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

jurnuhl

Say the bold part a little louder.

US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈdʒɝnəl

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

  1. A daily written record of (usually personal) experiences and observations

  2. A diary or daily record of a person, organization, vessel etc.; daybook.

  3. A periodical dedicated to a particular subject

  4. A newspaper or magazine dealing with a particular subject.

  5. The amount of land that can be worked in a day.

  6. accounting

    A chronological record of payments or receipts.

verb

  1. transitive

    To archive or record something.

  2. To insert (a shaft, an axle, etc) into a journal bearing.

  3. transitiveintransitive

    To scrapbook.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
A1 · Beginner
Frequency
Very Common
Typical Use
Varies by meaning

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: A daily written record of (usually personal) experiences and observations

Used this way, journal 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.

More ways to use journal

  • “She writes in her personal journal every evening before bed.”noun

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

journal entryamerican journalinternational journalbritish journalquarterly journallaw journalcanadian journalengland journal

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Word family

Words built from the same root.

  • journeynounDerived noun

    The act of traveling from one place to another.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: daily written record of (usually personal) experiences and observations

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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.