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 of apartment

• penthouse
• lodgings
• condominium
• suite
• flat
• tenement
• condo

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

Officers discovered his body Thursday inside his apartment on the 2000 block of San Juan Road in the Natomas neighborhood. —Rosalio Ahumada, Sacbee.com, 11 Nov. 2025

D’Aoust is just one of the many travelers affected by Sonder’s shutdown following the sudden end of a deal with Marriott, which had let guests book and earn loyalty points at Sonder’s 9,000 furnished apartments and boutique hotel rooms in 40 cities across 10 countries. —Jordan Valinsky, CNN Money, 11 Nov. 2025

The building includes one- and two-bedroom apartments. —Chris Higgins, Kansas City Star, 11 Nov. 2025

The challenge was to make the kitchen, which was separated from the rest of the apartment, the center of the home, while giving the bedroom a more secondary role. —Annabelle Dufraigne, Architectural Digest, 11 Nov. 2025

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from French appartement, going back to Middle French, borrowed from Italian appartamento, borrowed from Spanish apartamiento "withdrawal, remote spot, residence," from apartar "to separate, take aside" (reflexive, "to withdraw") (derivative of aparte "aside, apart entry 1") + -miento -ment

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

Rhymes for apartment

• compartment
• departement
• department

Kids Definition

apartment

noun

apart·​ment ə-ˈpärt-mənt 

1

: a room or set of rooms used as a dwelling

2

: apartment building