from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Apartment \A*part"ment\, n. [F. appartement; cf. It.
appartamento, fr. appartare to separate, set apart; all fr.
L. ad + pars, partis, part. See {Apart}.]
1. A room in a building; a division in a house, separated
from others by partitions. --Fielding.
[1913 Webster]
2. A set or suite of rooms. --De Quincey.
[1913 Webster]
3. A compartment. [Obs.] --Pope.
[1913 Webster]
4. A room or suite of rooms in a building comprising a
dwelling unit separate from others in the building, and
typically having its own separate bath, sanitary, and
kitchen facilities. Such apartments are in most cases
rented from the owner by those dwelling in them.
[PJC]
{efficiency apartment}, a small apartment[4], sometimes
furnished, with minimal kitchen and bath facilities. The
unit may comprise a single room plus a bathroom, and the
kitchen facilities are often open to the main room, or may
form a small niche in a corner. There are many variations
of efficiency apartment, including some in which
furnishings such as a bed may be pull out from a wall
recess and stored there again when not in use. Also called
an {efficiency}.
[PJC]