A journal (through French from Latin diurnalis, daily) has several related meanings:
a record of events or business; a private journal is usually referred to as a diary
a newspaper or other periodical, in the literal sense of one published each day
many publications issued at stated intervals, such as academic journals (including scientific journals), or the record of the transactions of a society, are often called journals. In academic use, a journal refers to a serious, scholarly publication that is peer-reviewed. A non-scholarly magazine written for an educated audience about an industry or an area of professional activity is usually called a trade magazine.
The word "journalist", for one whose business is writing for the public press and nowadays also other media, has been in use since the end of the 17th century.
A public journal is a record of day-by-day events in a parliament or congress. It is also called minutes or records.
Business and accounting
The term "journal" is also used in business:
A journal is a book or computer file in which monetary transactions are entered the first time they are processed. This journal lists transactions in chronological sequence by date prior to a transfer of the same transactions to a ledger in the process of bookkeeping
Narrations or equivalent to a ship's log, as a record of the daily run, such as observations, weather changes, or other events of daily importance
