application

Etymology

From Late Middle English applicacioun, borrowed from Old French aplicacion (French application), from Latin applicātiōnem, accusative singular of applicātiō (“attachment; application, inclination”), from applicō (“join to, attach; apply”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌæplɪˈkeɪʃən/
• (UK) IPA^(key): /aplɪˈkeɪʃ(ə)n/
• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /ˌæpləˈkeɪʃən/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Hyphenation: ap‧pli‧ca‧tion
• Rhymes: -eɪʃən

Noun

application (countable and uncountable, plural applications)

1. The act of applying or laying on, in a literal sense

   The application of this cream should reduce the swelling.

2. The substance applied.
   • Johnson

     He invented a new application by which blood might be stanched.

   • 1857, John Eadie, ‎John Francis Waller, ‎William John Macquorn Rankine, The Imperial Dictionary of Universal Biography

     His body was stripped, laid out upon a table, and covered with a hearsecloth, when some of his attendants perceived symptoms of returning animation, and by the use of warm applications, internal and external, gradually restored him to life.

3. The act of applying as a means; the employment of means to accomplish an end; specific use.
   • John Locke

     If a right course […] be taken with children, there will not be much need of the application of the common rewards and punishments.

4. The act of directing or referring something to a particular case, to discover or illustrate agreement or disagreement, fitness, or correspondence.

   I make the remark, and leave you to make the application.

   The application of a theory to a set of data can be challenging.

5. (computing) A computer program or the set of software that the end user perceives as a single entity as a tool for a well-defined purpose. (Also called: application program; application software.)

   This iPhone application can connect to most social networks.

6. A verbal or written request for assistance or employment or admission to a school, course or similar.

   December 31 is the deadline for MBA applications.

7. (bureaucracy, law) A petition, entreaty, or other request, with the adposition for denoting the subject matter.

   Their application for a deferral of the hearing was granted.

References

• WordNet 3.0 .

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin applicatio, applicationem.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /a.pli.ka.sjɔ̃/

• audio

  (file)

Noun

application f (plural applications)

1. application
2. (mathematics) mapping

Further reading

• “application” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).