article

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. An individual thing or element of a class; a particular object or item: an article of clothing; articles of food.
2. n. A particular section or item of a series in a written document, as in a contract, constitution, or treaty.
3. n. A nonfictional literary composition that forms an independent part of a publication, as of a newspaper or magazine.
4. n. Grammar The part of speech used to indicate nouns and to specify their application.
5. n. Grammar Any of the words belonging to this part of speech. In English, the indefinite articles are a and an and the definite article is the.
6. n. A particular part or subject; a specific matter or point.
7. v. To bind by articles set forth in a contract, such as one of apprenticeship.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. A joint connecting two parts of the body.
2. n. One of the parts thus connected; a jointed segment or part.
3. n. In botany, the name formerly given to that part of a stalk or stem which is between two joints.
4. n. A separate member or portion of anything. In particular— A clause, item, point, or particular in a contract, treaty, or other formal agreement; a condition or stipulation in a contract or bargain: as, articles of association; articles of apprenticeship.
5. n. A distinct proposition in a connected series; one of the particulars constituting a system: as, the Thirty-nine Articles; the articles of religion.
6. n. A separate clause or provision of a statute: as, the act of the six articles (see below).
7. n. A distinct charge or count: as, articles of impeachment.
8. n. A distinct item in an account or a list.
9. n. One of a series of regulations: as, the articles of war.
10. n. A literary composition on a specific topic, forming an independent portion of a book or literary publication, especially of a newspaper, magazine, review, or other periodical: as, an article on war, or on earthquakes and their causes.
11. n. A material thing as part of a class, or, absolutely, a particular substance or commodity: as, an article of merchandise; an article of clothing; salt is a necessary article.
12. n. A particular immaterial thing; a matter.
13. n. A concern; a piece of business; a subject. A point or nick of time joining two successive periods; a juncture; a moment; the moment or very moment.
14. n. The number 10, or any number ending in a cipher.
15. n. In grammar, a word used attributively to limit the application of a noun to one individual or set of individuals, and also to indicate whether the noun used signifies indefinitely one or any one of the class which it names, or definitely a specific object of thought. The two articles are regarded as a distinct part of speech. They are in English an (before consonant-sounds a) and the. An was originally the same word as one, and in meaning is an unemphatic any; it singles out an individual as an example of a class, any other member of the class being capable of serving as example equally well. A or an is accordingly called the indefinite article. The was originally a demonstrative pronoun, and in meaning is an unemphatic this or that; it points out a particular individual or set of individuals, and is consequently known as the definite article. Articles may therefore be regarded as a specialized and segregated class of pronouns. Some languages, as Latin, have no articles; others, as Hebrew and Greek, have the definite article only. The indefinite article is always of later formation than the definite. [The name article is a translation of the word α%27ρθρον, joint, which was applied by the Greek grammarians to the one article of that language (the definite), on account of its frequent use after the manner of a relative to join an adjective to a noun: as, ἀνη\ρ ὁ ἀγαθόζ, literally, man the good, for (the) man who (is) good, that is, the good man.]
16. To state in detail; particularize; specify.
17. To accuse or charge by an exhibition of articles or accusations.
18. To bind by articles of covenant or stipulation: as, to article an apprentice.
19. To agree by articles; stipulate.
20. n. That part of the proceedings which corresponds to the charge in our English bill in chancery to set aside a deed. The answer is called articles approbatory.

Wiktionary

1. n. A part or segment of something joined to other parts, or, in combination, forming a structured set.
2. n. A story, report, or opinion piece in a newspaper, magazine, journal, internet etc.
3. n. A member of a group or class
4. n. An object.
5. n. grammar A part of speech that indicates, specifies and limits a noun (a, an, or the in English). In some languages the article may appear as en ending (e.g. definite article in Swedish) or there may be none (e.g. Finnish, Estonian).
6. n. A section of a legal document, bylaws, etc.
7. n. derogatory A person.
8. n. obsolete, slang A wench. A prime article = A handsome girl.
9. v. intransitive To study or train to become qualified, especially in the legal profession.
10. v. transitive To bind by articles of apprenticeship.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. A distinct portion of an instrument, discourse, literary work, or any other writing, consisting of two or more particulars, or treating of various topics. Hence: A clause in a contract, system of regulations, treaty, or the like; a term, condition, or stipulation in a contract; a concise statement.
2. n. A literary composition, forming an independent portion of a magazine, newspaper, or cyclopedia.
3. n. obsolete Subject; matter; concern; distinct.
4. n. A distinct part.
5. n. A particular one of various things
6. n. Obs. or Archaic Precise point of time; moment.
7. n. (Gram.) One of the three words, a, an, the, used before nouns to limit or define their application. A (or an) is called the indefinite article, the the definite article.
8. n. (Zoöl.) One of the segments of an articulated appendage.
9. v. To formulate in articles; to set forth in distinct particulars.
10. v. To accuse or charge by an exhibition of articles.
11. v. To bind by articles of covenant or stipulation.
12. v. rare To agree by articles; to stipulate; to bargain; to covenant.

WordNet 3.0

1. v. bind by a contract; especially for a training period
2. n. one of a class of artifacts
3. n. a separate section of a legal document (as a statute or contract or will)
4. n. (grammar) a determiner that may indicate the specificity of reference of a noun phrase
5. n. nonfictional prose forming an independent part of a publication