item definition

English item definition

Etymology

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".

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈaɪ.təm/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈaɪ.təm/, [ˈaɪ̯.ɾəm], [ˈaɪ̯.ɾm̩]

  • Audio (US)

    (file)

• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /ˈɑɪ.təm/, [ˈɑɪ.ɾəm]
• Hyphenation: i‧tem

Noun

item (plural items)

1. A distinct physical object.

   Tweezers are great for manipulating small items.

   • 2013 July 26, Nick Miroff, “Mexico gets a taste for eating insects   […] ”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 7, page 32:

     The San Juan market is Mexico City's most famous deli of exotic meats, where an adventurous shopper can hunt down hard-to-find critters  […] . But the priciest items in the market aren't the armadillo steaks or even the bluefin tuna.

2. (by extension, video games) An object that can be picked up for later use.
3. A line of text having a legal or other meaning; a separate particular in an account.

   the items in a bill

   In response to the first item, we deny all wrongdoing.

   • 2001, David L. Lieber and Jules Harlow, Etz Hayim: Torah and Commentary, page 1143:

     Beyond being mere items of a legal code, they [the mitzvot] are the very basis of the relationship that God and the people Israel have established.

4. (psychometrics) A question on a test, which may include its answers.

   The exam has 100 items, each of which includes a correct response and three distractors.

5. A matter for discussion in an agenda.

   The first item for discussion is the budget for next year's picnic.

6. (informal) Two people who are having a romantic or sexual relationship with each other.

   Jack and Jill are an item.

   • 2010, Justin Bieber featuring Ludacris, Baby:

     Are we an item? Girl, quit playin' / "We're just friends," what are you sayin'?

8. A short article in a newspaper.

   an item concerning the weather

9. (obsolete) A hint; an innuendo.
   • 1655, Thomas Fuller, edited by James Nichols, The Church History of Britain, […], new edition, volumes (please specify |volume=I to III), London: […] [James Nichols] for Thomas Tegg and Son, […], published 1837, →OCLC:

     A secret item was given to some of the bishops […] to absent themselves.

     The spelling has been modernized.

10. (India) Short for item girl.
    • 2017, Nandita Chaudhary, Pernille Hviid, Giuseppina Marsico, Resistance in Everyday Life: Constructing Cultural Experiences, page 246:

      In this chapter, we will attempt to trace the course of initiation into the classical arts, from the self-taught gyrations of Bollywood items to the serious rigours of a classical Indian dance form.

Synonyms

• (object): article, object, thing
• (line of text having a legal or semantic meaning):
• (matter for discussion): subject, topic
• (two people who are having a relationship with each other): couple
• (psychometrics): test/assessment question

Hyponyms

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

item (third-person singular simple present items, present participle iteming, simple past and past participle itemed)

1. (transitive) To make a note of.

Related terms

• itemize

Adverb

item (not comparable)

1. likewise

Anagrams

• -time, METI, emit, it me, mite, time

Czech item definition

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈɪtɛm]

Adverb

item

1. (archaic) as well

   Synonyms: také, rovněž, dále, kromě toho

   Jedná se o zdravý všelék proti bolestem a item proti závrati. ― It's a healthy universal cure for pain and also for vertigo.

Further reading

• item in Příruční slovník jazyka českého, 1935–1957
• item in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého, 1960–1971, 1989

French item definition

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin item.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /i.tɛm/

• Audio

  (file)

Adverb

item

1. same; in the same way

Further reading

• “item”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Italian item definition

Etymology 1

Learned borrowing from Latin item. Doublet of item.

Adverb

item

1. (law) in the same way

Etymology 2

Borrowed from English item, from Latin item. Doublet of item.

Noun

item m (invariable)

1. (computer science) a single programmed unit
2. (linguistics) an element of a grammatical or lexical set

Anagrams

• mite, temi

Latin item definition

Etymology

Perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *éy and *só. Compare ita and itidem.

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈi.tem/, [ˈɪt̪ɛ̃ˑ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈi.tem/, [ˈiːt̪em]

Adverb

item (not comparable)

1. just like (in a comparison)
   • c. 200 BCE – 190 BCE, Plautus, Captivi 5.4:

     HĒGIŌ. Salvē, exoptāte gnāte mī. TYNDARUS. Hem, quid 'gnāte mī'?
     Attat, sciō quor tē patrem assimules esse et mē fīlium:
     quia mī item ut parentēs lūcis dās tuendī cōpiam.

     HEGIO. Hello, my wished-for son. TYNDARUS. Huh, what 'my son'?
     Alas, I know why you act as if you were a father and I your son:
     because you give me the means to see the light, just like parents do.

   • 46 BCE, Cicero, Orator 60:

     Ita fit ut nōn item in ōrātiōne ut in versū numerus exstet, idque quod numerōsum in ōrātiōne dīcitur nōn semper numerō fīat, sed nōnnunquam aut concinnitāte aut cōnstructiōne verbōrum.

     So it turns out that there isn't a metre in prose just like in verse, and that which in oration is called 'metrical' is not always caused by metre, but also on occasion by the euphony and construction of the words.

2. likewise, also, further

Descendants

• → French: item
• → Middle English: item
  • English: item
  • Scots: eetem

See also

References

• “item”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• item in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• item in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette

Middle English item definition

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin item.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈiːtɛm/

Adverb

item

1. also, and this

Further reading

• “item, adv. & n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-04-25.

Noun

item

1. the same; identical.

Descendants

• English: item
• Scots: eetem

Further reading

• “item, adv. & n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-04-25.

Middle French item definition

Etymology

Latin.

Adverb

item

1. same; in the same way

Old French item definition

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin item.

Adverb

item

1. same; in the same way

Descendants

• Middle French: item
  • French: item

Portuguese item definition

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin item (“also; in the same manner”).

Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: i‧tem

Noun

item m (plural itens)

1. item
2. a matter for discussion in an agenda or elsewhere

   O primeiro item a considerar é o orçamento para o próximo piquenique.

   The first point to consider is the budget for the next picnic.

3. a line of text with some meaning

   Consideremos um item de cada vez.

   Let's look at one item at a time.

Romanian item definition

Etymology

Anglicism (English item).

Noun

item m (plural itemi)

1. item

Declension

Swedish item definition

Alternative forms

• it. (abbreviation)

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin item (“just like”), attested since 1628.

Adverb

item

1. (obsolete) also, as well

   Synonyms: likaså, jämväl, vidare

   • 1847 July 24, Sophie von Knorring, Bref till hemmet‎^[1]:

     Jag blef helt ond och ändå mera E., som är en förklarad hundvän, item hund-advokat, som du väl mins.

     I became wholly mad, and even more E., who are a declared dog friend, as well as dog advocate, as you might well remember.

See also

• dito (“ditto”)

Noun

item c

1. an item on a list or agenda; a number; an item in bookkeeping

   Synonym: post

2. (obsolete) additional circumstance, additional item of concern
   • 1864, Johan Magnus Rosén, Hvad man minst väntar‎^[2]:

     Olsson profvade; men det var ingen, som passade rigtigt. — Så är det väl bäst du beställer en och låter ta mått, — sade Berg och tilläde, vände sig till hattmakarn: — Men det är ett lite item här, farbror! Det är fråga om kredit; [...]

     Olsson tried, but there were none, which fit really. — So it is best you order and let measures be taken, — said Berg and added, turned to the hat maker: — But there is an small additional matter of concern here, sir! It is a question about credit; [...]

References

• item in Nordisk Familjebok, Uggleupplagan
• item in Svensk ordbok (SO)