Diary Definition: How It’s Used, Key Phrases, and Practice

Get to know how to define a “diary” through commonly encountered situations, school life, and personal habits.

A stronger journal-focused vocabulary improves the ability to communicate about personal logs, schedules, reflections.

Related nouns: notebook journal planner

Synonyms (contextual): journal log

Common collocations: personal diary daily diary travel diary

A group of words with “diary” help remind us of how they have become common parts of daily life.

With adjectives: personal diary private diary digital diary

With verbs: keep a diary write a diary read a diary

With nouns (noun + noun): diary entry diary page diary app

The majority of the idioms and expressions including a diary have to do with the arrangement and documentation of private life.

• Keep a diary — to write down every day the ideas and happenings.

  To be more accountable, she decided to keep a diary for the purpose of monitoring her improvements.

• Put it in your diary — to jot down something for later use.

  So you don’t miss it, put the appointment in your diary.

• Diary entry — record made in writing for one day only.

  His diary entry told about the first day of working at a new place.

Practice recognizing how the “diary” is used in different contexts.

Below, you can see how to say “diary” in three commonly spoken European languages.

A really interesting fact about diaries is that it might appear that they are very simple, yet they still play a powerful role in the history and personal growth of mankind.

• Diaries have had long years of existence.

  From the earliest days of humanity, people communicated with each other through personal diaries, in which they wrote down their daily lives, journeys, and thoughts.

• The impact of some historical diaries on history was massive.

  One of the greatest impacts that Anne Frank’s diary had was giving a personal perspective on and insights into historical events through the eyes of a human being.

• Digitalized modernization of diaries.

  Diaries were no longer restricted to writing only; rather, they became part of computer usage as many people now diary through apps, which is a well-organized habit that is also easily searched.

• Diaries were not supposed to be private at all times.

  First diaries were frequently passed to family members and served not for self-exploration but documenting events such as weather, expenses, or even important moments.

• Travel diaries were instrumental in drawing the world.

  Diaries of explorers and sailors contained accounts of new lands, peoples, and routes that were already so informative that they were equivalent to present-day maps even before they were created.

The metaphor of the diary has been extensively used to signify memory, truthfulness, and introspection.