Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Date: 1500-1600
Language: Latin
Origin: auctio 'increase', from augere ( AUGMENT); because the money offered increases

auction

1 noun
     
auc‧tion1 [uncountable and countable]
a public meeting where land, buildings, paintings etc are sold to the person who offers the most money for them
at auction
The house was sold at auction.
put something up for auction (=try to sell something at an auction)
This week 14 of his paintings were put up for auction.
auction house (=a company that arranges auctions)
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

Dictionary pictures of the day
Do you know what each of these is called?
What is the word for picture 1? What is the word for picture 2? What is the word for picture 3? What is the word for picture 4?
Click on any of the pictures above to find out what it is called.

Explore our topic dictionary

Browse the dictionary