magazine

noun

mag·​a·​zine ˈma-gə-ˌzēn How to pronounce magazine (audio)
ˌma-gə-ˈzēn
1
a
: a print periodical containing miscellaneous pieces (such as articles, stories, poems) and often illustrated
a fashion magazine
a gardening magazine
also : such a periodical published online
b
: a similar section of a newspaper usually appearing on Sunday
c
: a radio or television program presenting usually several short segments on a variety of topics
2
: a place where goods or supplies are stored : warehouse
3
: a room in which powder and other explosives are kept in a fort or a ship
4
: the contents of a magazine: such as
a
: an accumulation of munitions (see munition sense 2) of war
b
: a stock of provisions (see provision entry 1 sense 2) or goods
5
: a supply chamber: such as
a
: a holder in or on a gun for cartridges (see cartridge sense 1) to be fed into the gun chamber
b
: a lightproof chamber for films or plates on a camera or for film on a motion-picture projector

Examples of magazine in a Sentence

She subscribes to several gardening magazines. the village kept a magazine where people left common supplies
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
But just as important to the Poles living under Soviet dictatorship were art books, fashion magazines, religious texts, lighthearted novels and regular newspapers. Valorie Castellanos Clark, Los Angeles Times, 27 June 2025 Wintour began her career in fashion journalism in 1970 at her native United Kingdom’s Harper's & Queen magazine, established after Harper’s Bazaar U.K. merged with Queen magazine. Conor Murray, Forbes.com, 26 June 2025 She's worked as a lead producer on narrative audio series for many places, including the Atlantic, New York magazine, Vox, Pushkin, Imagine Entertainment, and the CBC. Hazlitt, 26 June 2025 Ruth grew up in India, going to college at the age of 15 and co-founding the country's first feminist magazine, Manushi. Morgan Lieberman, NPR, 26 June 2025 See All Example Sentences for magazine

Word History

Etymology

Middle French, from Old Occitan, from Arabic makhāzin, plural of makhzan storehouse

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Time Traveler
The first known use of magazine was in the 15th century

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Magazine.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/magazine. Accessed 30 Jun. 2025.

Kids Definition

magazine

noun
mag·​a·​zine ˈmag-ə-ˌzēn How to pronounce magazine (audio)
ˌmag-ə-ˈzēn
1
: a storehouse or warehouse especially for military supplies
2
: a place for keeping explosives in a fort or ship
3
: a publication containing different pieces (as stories, articles, or poems) and issued at regular intervals (as weekly or monthly)
4
: a supply chamber: as
a
: a container in a gun for holding cartridges
b
: a container for film on a camera or motion-picture projector
Etymology

from early French magazine "storehouse, warehouse," derived from Arabic makhāzin, plural of makhzan "storehouse, granary, cellar"

Word Origin
Magazine originally meant "storehouse" or "granary" or "cellar." It came into an early French dialect and then English from the Arabic word makhzan (plural makhāzin). Makhzan had all these meanings. In military and naval use magazine came to mean a storage place for gunpowder or weapons or a place on a warship where the powder was kept. Later it came to mean either a place where valuable things were stored or the stored things themselves. A new sense of magazine appeared in 1731 with the first issue of a monthly publication called The Gentleman's Magazine, a collection or storehouse of short stories and articles about things of interest to the general reader. This use of magazine caught on and was used for similar publications.

More from Merriam-Webster on magazine

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!