article

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /ˈɑː.tɪ.kəl/, US /ˈɑːr.t̬ɪ.kəl/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English article, borrowed from Old French article,^[2][3][4] from Latin articulus (“a small part, a joint; the article in grammar”), a diminutive of artus (“joint”),^[2][3][5] from Proto-Indo-European *ar- (“to fit together”),^[2][5] the root also of art and arm.^[6][7] The grammatical sense translates Greek ἄρθρον (árthron, “joint”).^[2][6][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

A separate clause or statement, as in the Apostles' Creed or a set of rules: probably before 1200, in the Ancrene Riwle,^[3] or about 1230.^[8] A clause of a statute is from 1315.^[8]

Semantic evolution

A juncture, a moment, as in the article of death, is from 1398.^[8] A joint of the body is from 1541 and is now obsolete.^[8] The grammatical article is from the 1530s, from the notion of the “joints” on which the parts of a sentence are tied together.^[2] Articles of War, military regulations, are from 1716.^[2][8] A non-fiction composition in a journal or newspaper is by 1712.^[2] A piece of property or commodity, such as an article of clothing, is by 1796, originally in rogues' cant.^[2] In several English dialects article was a contemptuous term for a worthless person.^[9] The verb meant “to set out in articles” about 1450, and “to bind by articles of apprenticeship” later.^[8][10]

Timeline

• c. 1200 – a clause of a creed (Ancrene Riwle).^[3]
• 1315 – a clause of a statute.^[8]
• 1398 – a moment, juncture.^[8]
• c. 1450 – verb, to set out in articles.^[8]
• 1530s – the grammatical article.^[2]
• 1712 – a newspaper article.^[2]
• 1716 – Articles of War.^[2][8]
• 1796 – a commodity.^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A particular item or object: an article of clothing.
2. A piece of non-fiction writing forming part of a newspaper, magazine or other publication.
3. A separate section or clause of a written document, such as a contract, constitution or treaty.
4. (grammar) A word such as the or a used with a noun to limit or define it.

Verb

1. To bind by articles of a contract, as of apprenticeship.

Word family

• subarticle
• definite article
• indefinite article
• article of faith
• articles of war

Related words

• articular
• articulate
• articulation
• art
• arm
• arthritis

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 j k l Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
6. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
10. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin