diary

DY-uh-ree/ˈdaɪ.ə.ɹi/

Verbdiaries, diarying, diaried

4 meanings of diary

1
nouncountable
A book where you write down what happens to you each day.
Like a notebook that remembers your days for you.
She writes in her diary every night before bed.
Old diaries can tell us how people lived long ago.
Similarjournal, daybook
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2
nounBritishCanadacountable
A small book for writing down appointments and things you plan to do.
Like a planner that holds all your future plans.
Let me check my diary for a free day next week.
She wrote the dentist appointment in her diary straight away.
Similaragenda
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3
verbintransitive
To write about your day in a notebook on a regular basis.
Like keeping a daily picture of your thoughts.
I try to diary every evening before I fall asleep.
She has been diarying faithfully since the start of the year.
Similarjournal
Note

Less common meaning

4
adjectiveobsolete
Continuing for only one day and no longer.
Like a flower that opens in the morning and dies by night.
The plant produced a diary flower that wilted by nightfall.
the offer of a usurpation, though it were but as a diary ague
1605, Francis Bacon, a letter to the Lord ChancellorHere, diary means lasting only one day.
Note

Use it in a sentence

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Origins

Meanings 1–3

From Latin diārium, a soldier's daily allowance, which came from diēs meaning 'a day'.

Meaning 4

From Latin diārius.