apartment

noun

apart·​ment ə-ˈpärt-mənt 

plural apartments

1

: a room or set of rooms fitted especially with housekeeping facilities and usually leased as a dwelling

2

: a building containing several individual apartments

3

British : a large and impressive room or set of rooms

—usually plural

Assured that the Queen and Prince Philip had retired to bed, Mr Hillyard tried to pass through the Royal apartments as the train left Aberdeen on its journey to London.

—Jonathan Petre

apartmental

ə-ˌpärt-ˈmen-tᵊl 

adjective

Synonyms

• diggings [chiefly British]
• digs
• flat [chiefly British]
• lodgings
• suite
• tenement

Examples of apartment in a Sentence

We lived in an apartment for several years before buying a house.

a spacious six-room apartment that occupies the entire upper floor of a two-family house

Recent Examples on the Web

All apartments and suites are underground for high-level security. —Jim Dobson, Forbes, 13 Jan. 2025

Cops were called to the second-floor apartment on E. 148th St. near Courtlandt Ave. —Julian Roberts-Grmela, New York Daily News, 13 Jan. 2025

Called Promenade Cottages, the 7.6-acre development is planned to include the apartments in a two-story building, 30 single-family cottages, and two commercial buildings. —Rose Evans, Idaho Statesman, 12 Jan. 2025

The apartment is very neat; the tower of books on the round table has spines so exactly aligned that the whole thing resembles a sculpture. —Han Ong, The New Yorker, 12 Jan. 2025

Word History

Etymology

French appartement, from Italian appartamento

First Known Use

circa 1645, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing apartment

• apartment building
• apartment hotel
• duplex apartment
• efficiency apartment
• garden apartment
• in-law apartment
• mother-in-law apartment
• studio apartment

Kids Definition

apartment

noun

apart·​ment ə-ˈpärt-mənt 

1

: a room or set of rooms used as a dwelling

2

: apartment building