ar·ti·cle (är'tĭ-kəl)
n.

1. An individual thing or element of a class; a particular object or item: an article of clothing; articles of food.
2. A particular section or item of a series in a written document, as in a contract, constitution, or treaty.
3. A nonfictional literary composition that forms an independent part of a publication, as of a newspaper or magazine.
4. Grammar.
   1. The part of speech used to indicate nouns and to specify their application.
   2. 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.
5. A particular part or subject; a specific matter or point.

tr.v., -cled, -cling, -cles.
To bind by articles set forth in a contract, such as one of apprenticeship.

[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin articulus, joint, article, diminutive of artus, joint (translation of Greek arthron, joint, article).]

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

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