əˈpärtmənt, -pȧt- noun
( -s )
Usage: often attributive
Etymology: French appartement, from Italian appartamento (translation of Spanish apartamiento, literally, separation), from appartare to put aside, separate (from a parte aside, separately, literally, at the side, to the side, from assumed Vulgar Latin ad partem ) + -mento -ment (from Latin -mentum )
1. : a room or a set of rooms used as a dwelling and located in a private house, a hotel, or a building containing only such rooms or suites with necessary passages and hallways : flat
2. obsolete
a. : a separate or special abode : a dwelling place
came down from my apartment in the tree — Daniel Defoe
b. : compartment
3. : any room in a building
the dining room at the hall was not a cheerful apartment — Osbert Lancaster
4. : a building made up of individual dwelling units
these new apartments have intensified the parking problem
• a·part·men·tal ə|pärt|ment ə l, |aˌp-, -pȧt- adjective