Area \A"re*a\ ([=a]"r[-e]*[.a]; 277), n.; pl. Areas (-[.a]z) . [L. area a broad piece of level ground. Cf. Are, n.]

1. Any plane surface, as of the floor of a room or church, or of the ground within an inclosure; an open space in a building.

The Alban lake . . . looks like the area of some vast amphitheater. --Addison.

2. The inclosed space on which a building stands.

3. The sunken space or court, giving ingress and affording light to the basement of a building.

4. An extent of surface; a tract of the earth's surface; a region; as, vast uncultivated areas.

5. (Geom.) The superficial contents of any figure; the surface included within any given lines; superficial extent; as, the area of a square or a triangle.

6. (Biol.) A spot or small marked space; as, the germinative area.

7. Extent; scope; range; as, a wide area of thought.

The largest area of human history and man's common nature. --F. Harrison.

Dry area. See under Dry.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)