apartment

apartment — noun

1. a home that has its own kitchen, bathroom, and bedrooms, and shares a building w

1.nounA2
Definition

a home that has its own kitchen, bathroom, and bedrooms, and shares a building with other homes like it — usually all on the same floor.

Example

Yusuf rents a small apartment on the third floor of an old brick building.

rent + apartment

The Lin family's new apartment has two bedrooms, a balcony, and a view of the park.

apartment has [features]

Common collocations
  • rent an apartment
  • studio apartment
  • one-bedroom apartment
  • apartment building
  • move into an apartment
Synonyms
  • flat

    British equivalent; standard word in the UK

  • condo

    American, specifically one that is owned, not rented

  • studio

    small apartment with one main room

Antonyms
  • house

    a separate building, not part of a shared one

Usage Note

Mainly American English. British English usually says 'flat' for the same thing; 'apartment' in British English often suggests something larger or more expensive, or a holiday rental.

Common Mistakes

I live in a apartment.
I live in an apartment.
'apartment' starts with a vowel sound, so use 'an'.
My apartment is in the second floor.
My apartment is on the second floor.
use 'on' with floor numbers.

2. a group of large, beautifully decorated rooms inside a palace, castle, or grand

2.nounB2
Definition

a group of large, beautifully decorated rooms inside a palace, castle, or grand house, often kept for an important person such as a king or queen.

Example

Visitors can tour the royal apartments at Windsor Castle every summer.

the royal apartments (usually plural)

The duchess showed her guests the private apartments on the upper floor.

private apartments

Common collocations
  • royal apartments
  • state apartments
  • private apartments
  • the queen's apartments
Synonyms
  • chambers

    formal; private rooms used by an important person

  • suite

    a connected set of rooms, often in a hotel or palace

  • quarters

    rooms set aside for someone to live in

Usage Note

Almost always plural ('the royal apartments', 'the state apartments') and tied to palaces, castles, or other grand buildings. Distinguish from sense 1, which is an everyday home.

Word family

  • apartment building
    nounA2
  • apartment block
    nounB1
  • apartment complex
    nounB1

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

All four words name a home inside a shared building, but learners need to choose by region and by what the home is like. 'Apartment' is the standard American word and is also understood worldwide; in British English it often sounds a little fancy or is used for holiday rentals. 'Flat' is the everyday British word for the same thing — a Londoner says 'I live in a flat', not 'an apartment'. 'Condo' (short for 'condominium') is American and specifically means an apartment that the resident owns, not rents. 'Studio' is one type of apartment: a small one with the bedroom, living room, and kitchen all in a single space. So a Taipei student renting one room with a kitchenette lives in a studio apartment; a New York lawyer who bought her place lives in a condo.

apartmentflatcondostudio

Common collocations

Nouns

  • apartment building
  • apartment block
  • apartment complex
  • apartment hunting
  • apartment number

Phrases

  • rent an apartment
  • share an apartment
  • move into an apartment
  • furnished apartment

Prepositions

  • in an apartment
  • on the [number] floor
  • above/below an apartment

Etymology

ItalianFrenchEnglish

Borrowed into English in the 1600s from French 'appartement', which itself came from Italian 'appartamento'. The Italian word was built on the verb 'appartare', meaning 'to set apart or separate'. So an apartment was originally simply a portion of a building 'set apart' for one household — a meaning that still fits today.