area

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /ˈeə.ri.ə/, US /ˈer.i.ə/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin ārea (“level ground, open space; threshing floor”),^[2][3][4] a word of uncertain origin.^[2][3] It is often connected with ārēre (“to be dry”), as a bare space dried or cleared by burning, or a place for drying grain,^[2][5][6] but Barnhart says this derivation is not generally accepted.^[3] The metric unit are comes from the same Latin word through French.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

A vacant piece of ground, or one set aside for a particular purpose: 1538.^[3][2][8]

Semantic evolution

In Latin the word was used of building sites, playgrounds and threshing floors.^[2] In English the general sense “any extent of surface within set limits” followed in the 1560s,^[2] an enclosed court in the 17th century,^[9] a region with vague boundaries in 1671,^[10] and a field of study or activity later still.^[11] The North American telephone area code is recorded from 1959.^[2]

Timeline

• 1538 – a vacant piece of ground.^[3][12]
• 1560s – any extent of surface.^[2]
• 17th century – an enclosed court.^[9]
• 1671 – a region.^[10]
• 1959 – area code.^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A part of a surface or of the earth; a region.
2. An open, unoccupied piece of ground.
3. A part of a building or place set aside for a purpose: a dining area.
4. A field of knowledge or activity.
5. A sunken space beside a building, giving access to a basement.
6. (mathematics) The extent of a flat surface or figure.

Word family

• areal
• areally
• areaway
• equal-area
• subarea
• area code
• area rug
• Broca's area

Related words

• arid
• ardent
• are
• areola

Usage notes

The AHD notes that area and region are the most general words for an extent of space; a zone is marked off by some feature, a district by administration, and a locality is a place in relation to its surroundings.^[11]

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
5. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
6. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
10. ^ a b Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
11. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
12. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster