Area /(ā"rē̇*ȧ; 277)/

pl. Areas ((-ȧz))

1. Any plane surface, as of the floor of a room or church, or of the ground within an inclosure; an open space in a building.

   The Alban lake . . . looks like the area of some vast amphitheater.

2. The inclosed space on which a building stands.
3. The sunken space or court, giving ingress and affording light to the basement of a building.
4. An extent of surface; a tract of the earth's surface; a region; as, vast uncultivated areas.
5. The superficial contents of any figure; the surface included within any given lines; superficial extent; as, the area of a square or a triangle. (Geom.)
6. A spot or small marked space; as, the germinative area. (Biol.)
7. Extent; scope; range; as, a wide area of thought.

   The largest area of human history and man's common nature.