journal

noun jour·nal \ ˈjər-nᵊl \

Updated on: 18 May 2018

Definition of journal

1 a : a daily newspaper —usually used in titles

The Wall Street Journal

b : a periodical dealing especially with matters of current interest

an academic journal

—often used in titles

The Journal of the American Medical Association

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

b : a record of current transactions; especially : a book of original entry in double-entry bookkeeping

c : an account of day-to-day events

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

e : log 3

f : log 4

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

See journal defined for English-language learners

See journal defined for kids

Examples of journal in a Sentence

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

Recent Examples of journal from the Web

But in his 1977 literary biography of the author, Hemenway lumped the manuscript in with the disgraced journal article.

— lily rothman, Time, "Zora Neale Hurston’s Long-Unpublished Barracoon Finds Its Place After Decades of Delay," 10 May 2018
In 1944, librarian Margaret Scoggin wrote a journal article introducing the term, and arguing that the group constituted a new service population.

— michael cart, Smithsonian, "How “Young Adult” Fiction Blossomed With Teenage Culture in America," 7 May 2018
And the allegations were substantiated by friends and journal entries.

— Fox News, "Media declare Cabinet chaos," 30 Apr. 2018
Vester also shared her journal entries from the time period to the publication.

— natalie stone, PEOPLE.com, "NBC Is Taking Tom Brokaw, Matt Lauer Sexual Misconduct Accusations 'Very Seriously'," 27 Apr. 2018
Countering Hyman was another young oncologist, Vinay Prasad of Oregon Health & Science University in Portland, a prolific author of provocative journal articles and outspoken Twitter commentator with more than 17,000 followers.

— jocelyn kaiser, Science | AAAS, "A cancer drug tailored to your tumor? Experts trade barbs over ‘precision oncology’," 24 Apr. 2018
But the California Supreme Court overturned the instruction two years later, and Arabian went on to write law journal articles and other pioneering rulings on the subject.

— maura dolan, latimes.com, "Former California Supreme Court Justice Armand Arabian, an advocate for rape victims, dies at 83," 30 Mar. 2018
Meanwhile, in my field, science, researchers are overwhelmed by something more constructive, the more than three million new journal articles each year.

— gareth cook, Scientific American, "The Power of Flexible Thinking," 21 Mar. 2018
Samuel Lee, director of Campaign Life, also testified in support, and quoted from a journal article that looked at the lack of decision-making and educational opportunities child brides faced.

— tessa weinberg, kansascity, "It's time to toughen Missouri's law on child marriages, witnesses tell state senators | The Kansas City Star," 14 Mar. 2018

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.

Origin and Etymology of journal

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

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 15th century

in the meaning defined at sense 2b

See Words from the same year

journal Synonyms

Synonyms

bulletin, gazette, mag, magazine, newspaper, organ, paper, periodical, rag, review, serial, zine;

digest, little magazine;

fanzine;

pictorial, slick;

newsletter, newsmagazine, newsweekly;

Other Publishing Terms

annotate, dreadful, emend, expurgate, factoid, jump, lobster shift, redaction, referee

Financial Definition of JOURNAL

journal

noun

What It Is

In the finance world, journal is short for journal entry. It is also short for The Wall Street Journal.

How It Works

Journal entries are records of individual financial transactions in a company's accounting system. Due to the standards of double-entry bookkeeping, journal entries typically involve a debit to one or more accounts and a credit to one or more accounts in the same amount. For example, the journal entry for the purchase of a $20,000 fleet vehicle might reflect a $20,000 increase in assets and a corresponding $20,000 decrease in cash.

Why It Matters

Journal entries are the heart and soul of accounting. Accountants must know how to make them correctly so that a company's financial transactions are recorded accurately and in turn convey correct information to shareholders, analysts and other stakeholders. When the books don't balance or there is an error in the numbers, accountants often go back to the journal entries to find out what went wrong. In this way, journal entries are a sort of diary for companies.

Source: Investing Answers

JOURNAL Defined for English Language Learners

journal

noun

Definition of journal for English Language Learners

: a book in which you write down your personal experiences and thoughts
: a newspaper
: a magazine that reports on things of special interest to a particular group of people