journal

1 of 2

noun

jour·nal ˈjər-nᵊl

: a daily newspaper

—usually used in titles

The Wall Street Journal

: a periodical dealing especially with matters of current interest

an academic journal

—often used in titles

The Journal of the American Medical Association

: a record of experiences, ideas, or reflections kept regularly for private use : diary

: a record of current transactions

especially : a book of original entry in double-entry bookkeeping

: an account of day-to-day events

: a record of transactions kept by a deliberative or legislative body

: log sense 3

: log sense 4

: the part of a rotating shaft, axle, roll, or spindle that turns in a bearing

journal

2 of 2

verb

journaled; journaling; journals

transitive + intransitive

: to keep a personal journal : to enter or record daily thoughts, experiences, etc., in a journal

As a kid, I journaled about everything from boys to bad haircuts.

Redbook

The principal at the school says since students began journaling last year, poor behavior reports have dropped 40 percent.

Stephanie Stahl

The students engaged in several process discussions to reflect on their service-learning projects, and they journaled their reactions.

Roeper Review

journaler noun

plural journalers

You don't have to be a writer to be a journaler, but journal keeping will make you a writer anyway.

Robert Moss

journaling

ˈjər-nᵊl-iŋ

noun

Change your attitude about being awake at night. Savor this time alone for journaling or personal reflection.

Self Healing

First on the agenda for this crew: a process dieticians call journaling, which involves jotting down every single thing eaten for several days …

Family Circle

Example Sentences

Noun I've been keeping a journal for several years. She records her dreams in a journal.

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

The design is super cute and comes with a journal, fancy bookmark and tabs.

Essence, 23 Nov. 2022 The journal reports are highly technical and devoid of hype — daring to be dull as dirt — but the scientists involved translate them into a more exciting tale.

Joel Achenbach, Washington Post, 23 Nov. 2022 Published in Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution scientific journal on Wednesday, the study reveals that the great bustards ate an abundance of corn poppies (Papaver rhoeas) and purple viper’s bugloss (Echium plantagineum).

Hafsa Khalil, CNN, 23 Nov. 2022 Richard Brown, head of metrology at the National Physical Laboratory in Teddington, England, began working on a proposal several years ago, the journal Science reported in 2019.

Mike Snider, USA TODAY, 22 Nov. 2022 The name comes from a URL that Fenwick was saving for an eventual literary journal.

Kyle Chayka, The New Yorker, 22 Nov. 2022 Page, who previously ran HGTV and Food Network, says the idea has always been to use the journal to inform programming decisions at Magnolia Network.

Jennifer Maas, Variety, 22 Nov. 2022 Dmytro Horevoi, a religious scholar and director of the Religious Security Center in Kyiv, recently wrote in an online journal about the difficult situation many priests find themselves in, wanting to remain neutral.

Ivan Nechepurenko, New York Times, 22 Nov. 2022 Thompson co-authored an article published Monday in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine, which suggests that more than 10% of fungal infections are diagnosed outside regions where the pathogens are known to be endemic.

Angela Yang, NBC News, 21 Nov. 2022 See More

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'journal.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English, service book containing the day hours, from Anglo-French jurnal, from jurnal, adjective, daily, from Latin diurnalis, from diurnus of the day, from dies day — more at deity

First Known Use

Noun

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 2b

Verb

1803, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler

The first known use of journal was in the 15th century

See more words from the same century