Link Centre Dictionary

item

UK/ˈaɪ.təm/ US/ˈaɪ.təm/ common informal
noun (5) adverb (1)

noun

1.

a distinct part that can be specified separately in a group of things that could be enumerated on a list

  • “he noticed an item in the New York Times”
  • “she had several items on her shopping list”
  • “the main point on the agenda was taken up first”
Synonyms
2.

a whole individual unit; especially when included in a list or collection

  • “they reduced the price on many items”
3.

a small part that can be considered separately from the whole

  • “it was perfect in all details”
Synonyms
4.

an isolated fact that is considered separately from the whole

  • “several of the details are similar”
  • “a point of information”
Synonyms
5.

an individual instance of a type of symbol

  • “the word”
  • “contains three tokens of”
  • “'”
Synonyms

adverb

1.

(used when listing or enumerating items) also

  • “a length of chain, item a hook” Philip Guedalla

Origin

From Middle English item, from Latin item (“also; in the same manner”). The present English meaning derives from a usage in lists, where the first entry would begin in primis (“firstly”) or imprimis, and the other entries with item (“also, moreover”). Later, the members of lists were referred to as "items".

Phrases

  • action item
  • big-ticket item
  • blind item
  • end item
  • individual item picking
  • item girl
  • item journal
  • item number

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Narrower terms

Parts

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.