journal

Compared meaning: a personal daily record (noun).

比较义项：日记（名词）。

• journal 本词

  Broader and slightly more formal than diary; often used for recording observations, ideas, or professional details, not only private feelings.

  比diary范围更广、语气略正式；常用于记录观察、想法或专业内容，不一定涉及私密情感。

  The scientist recorded her daily observations in a research journal.

  这位科学家把她每天的观察记录在一本研究日记里。

• diary

  More personal and informal than journal; suggests a private book where someone writes about daily feelings and secrets.

  比journal更私人、更口语化；指人们用来写下每天感受和秘密的私人本子。

  She keeps a diary where she writes about her secret crush and daily worries.

  她有一本日记本，专门写她暗恋的对象和每天的烦恼。

Journal and diary both mean a personal record of daily life, but diary is more personal and informal, for private feelings. Journal is broader and more formal, also used for observations or professional notes, not only feelings. Journal's other sense, 'magazine', is not compared here.

两词都指“日记”，但diary更强调私人性质，用来记录每天的生活琐事与内心感受，语气亲密、偏口语；journal范围更广，除了个人生活，也可用于记录观察、想法或专业内容，语气略正式，不一定涉及私密情感。此外，journal还有“期刊、杂志”的义项，这里不作比较。