item
Pluralitems
Pluralitems
- 1A single thing considered separately from others, especially as one of a group, set, or collection, including an object in a video game.
Each item in the collection was tagged and photographed.
He counted the items as they came off the conveyor belt.
UsageOften an item of + a noun with no plural: an item of clothing, an item of furniture.
- 2A single entry or point in a list, menu, agenda, bill, account or document, such as a task to be handled or a clause in a contract.
The accountant listed each item separately in the ledger.
One disputed item in the agreement delayed the signing.
UsageUse an item on a list, menu, agenda, or bill, and an item in a contract or account.
Note
Here the word's history shows most plainly. Old lists opened each line after the first with Latin item, 'also', as in the 'likewise' adverb, and in time the lines themselves came to be called items. The sense keeps that ledger feel: the items in a bill, items of a legal code, the first item of a reply. Each one is a separate particular to be answered or paid.
Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 4 facts
- The word comes from Latin item, meaning 'also' or 'in the same manner'. en.wiktionary.org
- Historical lists introduced entries after the first with item. en.wiktionary.org
- Item also exists as an adverb meaning 'likewise'. en.wiktionary.org
- The noun developed when list entries themselves came to be called items. en.wiktionary.org
- 3A pair of people who are romantically or sexually involved with each other.
By fall, the pair were officially an item.
Coworkers gossiped about whether the two were an item.
UsageMostly be an item, with two people as subject: they're an item.
Similarcouple
Note
A grammatical oddity: one singular noun names two people. Justin Bieber puts it as a question in Baby (2010): Are we an item?
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
- Baby is a Justin Bieber song released in 2010. en.wikipedia.org
- Bieber sings the exact question 'Are we an item?' in Baby. en.wiktionary.org
- 4
Less common meanings
- 5
- 6Used to introduce each new entry in a list or inventory, with the sense of 'also' or 'likewise.'
Item, twelve yards of linen; item, a pair of brass candlesticks.
The inventory continued: item, one oak table, much scratched.
Note
Latin item meant 'also, in the same manner', and English kept it as the word that heads each entry in an inventory, as in Item, one oak table. The first entry traditionally began with imprimis, 'firstly', and every entry after it took item. It stands capitalized at the head of its line, followed by a comma.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
- English item derives from Latin item, meaning 'also; in the same manner'. en.wiktionary.org
- Traditional inventories introduced the first entry with imprimis and subsequent entries with item. opc-cornwall.org
- Imprimis means 'firstly'. en.wiktionary.org
- 7Ellipsis of item girl: in Indian English, a woman who performs the showpiece dance in a film's special song sequence.
She started out as an item, dancing in one flashy song per film, before landing serious leading roles.
The film's item stole the show with her dance.
UsageUse item girl when the film context is unclear.
Note
A clipping from Indian English: item girl drops its noun, and item alone comes to mean the woman who performs in an item number. The clipped form looks just like plain item, so context such as the dance or the film does the work.
Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
- In Indian English, item is an ellipsis of item girl, formed by dropping girl. en.wiktionary.org
- Item can mean a woman who performs in an item number. en.wiktionary.org
- 8A hint; an indirect suggestion or innuendo.
Note
A hint passed sideways, often in private. Thomas Fuller's The Church-history of Britain (1655) tells of a secret item given to some of the bishops to absent themselves. The sense is obsolete, and a modern reader would hear a secret item as a hidden object or a confidential agenda point. To say the same thing today, use hint or innuendo.
Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 3 facts
- Thomas Fuller wrote The Church-history of Britain, first published in 1655. openlibrary.org
- Fuller's work describes a secret item given to bishops to absent themselves. en.wiktionary.org
- Item has an obsolete sense meaning a hint or innuendo. en.wiktionary.org
- 9A single question on a test, sometimes including its answer choices.
Showing meanings only.
Practice
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Origin
Latin item meant "also, in the same manner," and Middle English kept it as item. Its modern meaning grew out of lists. The first entry opened with in primis or imprimis ("firstly"), and each one after that with item ("also, moreover"), until the entries themselves were called items.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 5 facts
- English item came through Middle English item from Latin item, meaning also or in the same manner. en.wiktionary.org
- Lists began with imprimis and introduced subsequent entries with item. folger.edu
- In primis and imprimis mean firstly. en.wiktionary.org
- Item meant also or moreover in this list usage. en.wiktionary.org
- The noun meaning developed when list entries themselves became known as items. en.wiktionary.org