magazine
- 01 A1 Beginner
a thin book with a paper cover that contains stories, news, and photos, usually published every week or month.
a periodical publication containing articles and illustrations, typically focused on a particular subject or area of interest.
Simple“I bought a fashion magazine at the airport to read during the long flight.”
In context“The editor decided to pivot the magazine toward digital long-form journalism to combat declining print subscriptions.”
Synonyms - 02 B2 Upper Intermediate
a building or room where weapons and explosives are kept safely.
a fortified room or building used for the storage of explosives and ammunition.
Simple“The soldiers guarded the powder magazine to prevent any accidents or theft.”
In context“Historical records indicate that the fortress magazine was built deep underground to protect the gunpowder from enemy artillery fire.”
- 03 B2 Upper Intermediate
the part of a gun that holds the bullets before they are fired.
a chamber for holding a supply of cartridges to be fed automatically into the breech of a firearm.
Simple“He clicked the magazine into the base of the pistol before heading to the range.”
In context“The rifle was designed with a detachable magazine, allowing the operator to reload far more quickly than with older fixed-internal designs.”
UsageIn technical contexts, 'magazine' and 'clip' are distinct, though they are often used interchangeably in casual speech.
Synonyms - 04 C1 Advanced
a container in a machine that holds a supply of something, like film in a camera.
a reservoir or supply chamber for a mechanical apparatus, such as a camera or a typesetting machine.
Simple“The photographer swapped the film magazine to continue the shoot without delay.”
In context“The automated system feeds components from a large magazine into the assembly line at precise intervals.”
The word arrived in English in the 1580s as magasyne, having been lifted from Middle French magasin, which had earlier been borrowed from Italian magazzino. Both continental forms simply meant “warehouse, storehouse”, a sense that followed the term across the Channel. Behind the Romance scenery lay the Arabic مَخَازِن (maḵāzin), the regular plural of مَخْزَن (maḵzan) “storeroom”, itself formed from the verb خَزَنَ (ḵazana) “to store, to stock up”.
That commercial itinerary—from warehouse to periodical—was completed two centuries later when printers began calling their paper-bound miscellanies magazines: they were, after all, storehouses of prose.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.