<p><strong>Noun:</strong></p><ul><li>any particular extent of space or surface; part: the dark areas in the painting; the dusty area of the room.</li><li>a geographical region; tract: the unsettled areas along the frontier.</li><li>any section reserved for a specific function: the dining area of a house.</li><li>extent, range, or scope: inquiries that embrace the whole area of science.</li><li>field of study, or a branch of a field of study: Related areas of inquiry often reflect borrowed notions.</li><li>a piece of unoccupied ground; an open space.</li><li>the space or site on which a building stands; the yard attached to or surrounding a house.</li><li>the quantitative measure of a plane or curved surface; two-dimensional extent.</li><li>a zone of the cerebral cortex having a specific function: The damage to Broca's area affected his speech.</li></ul>