apartment English · revision 4061

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1641|origins=it appartamento}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /əˈpɑːt.mənt/, US /əˈpɑːrt.mənt/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|fr|appartement]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) 16th century,^(Etymonline) from [[it|appartamento|t=a separated place]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Klein 1966) from [[m|it|appartare|t=to separate, put aside]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from a parte “aside, to the side”,^(MWU 2024)^(AHD 2000) from Latin ad “to” and partem, the accusative of pars “part, side”,^(Etymonline)^(Klein 1966) with the suffix -mento ([[-ment]]).^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) Merriam-Webster takes the Italian word as a translation of Spanish apartamiento “separation”.^(MWU 2024) It is related to [[apart]] and [[part]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Klein 1966)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A suite of rooms in a building, private rooms for one person or family within a house: 1641, in John Evelyn's diary.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ A single room is from 1715,^(OED 1989) originally expressed by the plural apartments.^(OED 1989) A separate place of abode, quarters, is from 1681.^(OED 1989) The sense “set of rooms rented as an independent dwelling in a building made up of these”, the American equivalent of the British [[flat]], is by 1863, first of Paris,^(Etymonline) or 1874 in the OED,^(OED 1989) and ''apartment house'' is from 1870 in Etymonline,^(Etymonline) 1874 in the OED, chiefly American.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1641 – a suite of rooms.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1681 – quarters.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1715 – a single room.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1863 – a dwelling in a block.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1870 – ''apartment house''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A room or set of rooms used as a home, usually in a building with other such homes; a [[flat]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # An apartment house or apartment building.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A room; or a set of rooms in a larger building set aside for a purpose or a person: ''the royal apartments''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[apartmental]]

+ * [[apartment building]]

+ * [[apartment hotel]]

+ * [[efficiency apartment]]

+ * [[apartment house]]

+ * [[garden apartment]]

+ * [[studio apartment]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[apart]]

+ * [[part]]

+ * [[flat]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}