article

I. noun Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin articulus joint, division, diminutive of artus joint, limb; akin to Greek arariskein to fit — more at arm Date: 13th century 1. a. a distinct often numbered section of a writing b. a separate clause c. a stipulation in a document (as a contract or a creed) <

articles of indenture

> d. a nonfictional prose composition usually forming an independent part of a publication (as a magazine) 2. an item of business ; matter 3. any of a small set of words or affixes (as a, an, and the) used with nouns to limit or give definiteness to the application 4. a member of a class of things; especially an item of goods <

articles of value

> 5. a thing or person of a particular and distinctive kind or class <

the genuine article

> II. transitive verb (-cled; articling) Date: 1820 to bind by articles (as of apprenticeship)