article: Meaning and Definition of

ar•ti•cle

Pronunciation: (är'ti-kul), [key]
— n., v., -cled, -cling.
—n.
  1. a written composition in prose, usually nonfiction, on a specific topic, forming an independent part of a book or other publication, as a newspaper or magazine.
  2. an individual object, member, or portion of a class; an item or particular: an article of food; articles of clothing.
  3. something of indefinite character or description: What is that article?
  4. an item for sale; commodity.
  5. any member of a small class of words, or, as in Swedish or Rumanian, affixes, found in certain languages, as English, French, and Arabic, that are linked to nouns and that typically have a grammatical function identifying the noun as a noun rather than describing it. In English the definite article is the, the indefinite article is a or an, and their force is generally to impart specificity to the noun or to single out the referent from the class named by the noun.
  6. a clause, item, point, or particular in a contract, treaty, or other formal agreement; a condition or stipulation in a contract or bargain: The lawyers disagreed on the article covering plagiarism suits.
  7. a separate clause or provision of a statute.
  8. a person.
  9. a subject or matter of interest, thought, business, etc.
  10. a specific or critical point of time; juncture or moment: the article of death.
—v.t.
  1. to set forth in articles; charge or accuse specifically: They articled his alleged crimes.
  2. to bind by articles of covenant or stipulation: to article an apprentice.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.
See also: