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

Minneapolis, Minnesota — Her long dark hair flowing from a bright pink beanie, the 11-year-old from Ecuador calmly recalled her mother venturing out of their small South Minneapolis apartment last Monday morning for the first time in a month and a half. —Ray Sanchez, CNN Money, 8 Feb. 2026

Regarding a cooperative apartment, the purchaser is not purchasing real estate, but purchasing shares of a corporation because a corporation owns the building and the purchaser is purchasing shares to be entitled to lease a residential apartment pursuant to a proprietary lease document. —Howard Dakoff, Chicago Tribune, 8 Feb. 2026

The vision for this program is that it be used in an emergency or tragedy, Jungmann said, using an apartment fire as an example. —Mars King, Twin Cities, 8 Feb. 2026

Family homes and an apartment complex stand along Parallel Parkway, a city through-line that runs east to west. —Sofi Zeman february 8, Kansas City Star, 8 Feb. 2026

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