The Meaning of Address: What It Is and How To Use It

What are the various meanings of address? This article will cover all of them and teach you how to use them in a sentence.

Your writing, at its best

Compose bold, clear, mistake-free, writing with Grammarly's AI-powered writing assistant

From the Gettysburg Address to a mail address, there are so many different meanings that the word address can take. First, this article will teach you about all of the different forms of address. Then, it will show you how to use these forms of address in sentences. 

After, we will explore the history of the word address and various other topics concerning the word address. By the end of this article, you will be able to consider yourself an expert on the word address!

What Does Address Mean?

The word address can either be a noun or a verb. As a noun, the word address can either refer to the recipient and location that are written on a piece of mail, or it can refer to a formal speech given to a group of people. 

As a verb, the word address can mean calling someone by a specific title, directing speech toward, or directing a letter or piece of the mail toward. Additionally, people can use the word address to mean to discuss or deal with. Address is two syllables (add-ress), and the pronunciation of address is əˈdres

How Can We Use Address in a Sentence?

Study the below example sentences for address!

The member of Parliament gave his business address to the young school children who wanted to write him a letter.

Question: What part of speech is the word address in the above sentence?

Answer: Address is a noun.

The woman gave the keynote speech at the conference. She was nervous about addressing a large group of people.

Question: What part of speech is the word address in the above sentence?

Answer: Address is a verb.

His home address was in New York, but he went to college in Wyoming.

Question: What part of speech is the word address in the above sentence?

Answer: Address is a noun.

The IT person needed the man’s IP address and amount of free computer memory to troubleshoot why he was having a problem with his internet address.

Question: What part of speech is the word address in the above sentence?

Answer: Address is a noun.

We heard an announcement over the public address system.

Question: What part of speech is the word address in the above sentence?

Answer: Address is a verb.

My mail got sent to the wrong address, so I never received it.

Question: What part of speech is the word address in the above sentence?

Answer: Address is a noun.

What Is the Etymology of Address?

The word address entered the English language in the 1300s as the Middle English adressen. This word comes from the Old French adresser, from the Latin ad, dres, directus, and dīrigere.

What Are Translations of Address?

Take a look at the below translation of address from Nice Translator if you only speak American English.

  • Thai: ที่อยู่
  • Malayalam: അഭിസംബോധന ചെയ്യുക
  • Swedish: adress
  • Czech: adresa
  • Portuguese (Portugal): Morada
  • Turkish: adres
  • Indonesian: alamat
  • Vietnamese: Địa chỉ
  • Chinese (Taiwan): 地址
  • Polish: adres
  • Japanese: 住所
  • Icelandic: heimilisfang
  • Finnish: osoite
  • Greek: διεύθυνση
  • Urdu: پتہ
  • Hungarian: cím
  • Croatian: adresa
  • Latvian: adrese
  • Amharic: አድራሻ
  • Korean: 주소
  • Serbian: адреса
  • Swahili: anwani
  • Telugu: చిరునామా
  • Ukrainian: адреса
  • Kannada: ಭಾಷಣ
  • Norwegian: adresse
  • Estonian: aadress
  • Malay: alamat
  • Catalan: adreça
  • Slovak: osloviť
  • Welsh: cyfeirio
  • Chinese (PRC): 地址
  • Basque: hitzaldi
  • Portuguese (Brazil): Morada
  • Hebrew: כתובת
  • Dutch: adres
  • Tamil: முகவரி
  • Italian: indirizzo
  • French: adresse
  • Bengali: ঠিকানা
  • Filipino: address
  • Marathi: पत्ता
  • Slovenian: nagovor
  • Arabic: عنوان
  • German: die Anschrift
  • Russian: адрес
  • Bulgarian: адрес
  • Danish: adresse
  • Spanish: dirección
  • Romanian: abordare
  • Hindi: पता
  • Gujarati: સંબોધન
  • Lithuanian: adresas

What Are Synonyms of Address?

Since the word address has so many meanings, it can be useful to replace certain uses of the word address with other words that have the same definition. For this, you can turn to the below list of synonyms of address from Power Thesaurus

Some of these synonyms are for the noun definition of the word address, while others can replace the verb form of the word address. 

Can you identify which word should replace which definition of address? 

  • abode
  • accost
  • adroitness
  • answer
  • apply
  • approach
  • call
  • combat
  • confront
  • consider
  • control
  • correct
  • counter
  • cover
  • deal
  • declamation
  • dedicate
  • destination
  • direct
  • discourse
  • discuss
  • domicile
  • dwelling
  • eliminate
  • face
  • fight
  • focus
  • greet
  • hail
  • handle
  • harangue
  • home
  • house
  • inscribe
  • lecture
  • location
  • meet
  • monologue
  • oration
  • overcome
  • plow
  • rectify
  • redress
  • remedy
  • residence
  • resolve
  • respond
  • salutation
  • salute
  • send
  • sermon
  • settle
  • solve
  • speak
  • speak to
  • speech
  • superscribe
  • tackle
  • talk
  • treat
  • treated
  • turn
  • turn to

What Are Antonyms of Address?

How would you go about saying the opposite of the word address? If you are unsure, you can reference this list of antonyms of address from Power Thesaurus. Knowing words that mean the opposite of a certain word can make your writing more powerful. 

  • agree
  • avoid
  • be idle
  • be oblivious to
  • be quiet
  • brush aside
  • brush off
  • bypass
  • close your eyes to
  • discount
  • disdain
  • dismiss
  • dispense with
  • disregard
  • eschew
  • evacuate
  • evade
  • exclude
  • faint
  • feeble
  • flee
  • forget
  • ignore
  • leave out
  • let go
  • look away
  • misheed
  • miss
  • neglect
  • not take into account
  • omit
  • overlook
  • overpass
  • pass
  • pass over
  • pay no attention to
  • pay no heed to
  • refrain
  • reject
  • skip
  • slight
  • support
  • tune out

Conclusion

The definition of address (əˈdrɛs) has several facets. First, the word address can be a noun used to refer to some sort of speech or formal piece of writing toward a particular group, or it can refer to the person and location written on a piece of mail. 

Second, address is a verb that means to direct speech or a piece of writing toward, or to use a specific title for a person. Additionally, the word address can mean to take care of or deal with. Now you know everything there is to know about the word address! 

Sources:

  1. Address synonyms – 2 162 Words and Phrases for Address | Power Thesaurus 
  2. Address antonyms – 144 Opposites of Address | Power Thesaurus 
  3. Address Definition & Meaning | Dictionary.com 
  4. Address | Nice Translator