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artillery

 - 5 dictionary results

ar⋅til⋅ler⋅y

  [ahr-til-uh-ree]
Use artillery in a Sentence
–noun
1. mounted projectile-firing guns or missile launchers, mobile or stationary, light or heavy, as distinguished from small arms.
2. the troops or the branch of an army concerned with the use and service of such weapons.
3. the science that treats of the use of such weapons.
Origin:
1350–1400; ME artil(le)rie, artelry, art(u)ry armaments, ballistic engines < AF, MF artillerie, equiv. to OF artill(ier) to equip, arm, alter., by assoc. with art art 1 , of atill(i)er to set in order, put on armor (< VL *apticulāre, deriv. of L aptāre to put on (armor, ornaments, etc.; see adapt ); -i- for expected -ei- perh. by assoc. with atirier; see attire ) + -erie -ery
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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ar·til·ler·y   (är-tĭl'ə-rē)   
n.   pl. ar·til·ler·ies

  1. Large-caliber weapons, such as cannon, howitzers, and missile launchers, that are operated by crews.

  2. The branch of an army that specializes in the use of such weapons.

  3. The science of the use of guns; gunnery.

  4. Weapons, such as catapults, arbalests, and other early devices, used for discharging missiles.


[Middle English artillerie, from Old French, from artillier, to equip, perhaps alteration of atiller, from Vulgar Latin *apticulāre, from Latin aptāre, to fit, adapt, from aptus, apt; see apt.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Slang Dictionary
artillery

  1. n.
    handguns; grenades. (Underworld.) : Where does Frank stash the artillery?
  2. n.
    flatware; cutlery. : Who put out the artillery? I didn't get a fork.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Word Origin & History

artillery 
c.1386, "warlike munitions," from O.Fr. artillerie, from artillier "to provide with engines of war," which probably is from M.L. articulum "art, skill," dim. of L. ars (gen. artis) "art." But some would connect it with L. articulum "joint," and still others with O.Fr. atillier "to equip," altered by infl. of arte. Sense of "engines for discharging missiles" (catapults, slings, bows, etc.) is from 1496; that of "ordnance, large guns" is from 1533.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Bible Dictionary

Artillery

1 Sam. 20:40, (Heb. keli, meaning "apparatus;" here meaning collectively any missile weapons, as arrows and lances. In Revised Version, "weapons"). This word is derived from the Latin artillaria = equipment of war.

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
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