define an arsenal

bentbones · March 5, 2013, 01:20 AM

Occasionally on TV you hear reference to 'they had an arsenal'.
Whats defines an 'arsenal'? number of total guns? Number of different calibers of guns? Number of rounds of ammunition? What?

BarryLee · March 5, 2013, 01:30 AM

Not a linguist here, but I think the term originally referred to a facility and not a specific collection. In other words the building armaments are stored or serviced in and not the actual items.

However, it has come to mean any collection of firearms and I don’t think there is a specific size. Obviously it is used to sensationalize a story and another term would probably be more accurate, but not sure it is really wrong as far as modern usage goes.

MarkDozier · March 5, 2013, 02:01 AM

World English Dictionary

arsenal (ˈɑːsən ə l)
— n

1. a store for arms, ammunition, and other military items

2. a workshop or factory that produces munitions

3. a store of anything regarded as weapons: an arsenal of destructive arguments

[C16: from Italian arsenale dockyard, from the original Venetian arsenal dockyard and naval store, from Arabic dār sīn`ah, from dār house + sīn`ah manufacture]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source

Etymonline
Word Origin & History
arsenal

c.150o, "dockyard," from It. arzenale, from Arabic dar as-sina'ah "workshop," lit. "house of manufacture," from dar "house" + sina'ah "art, craft, skill," from sana'a "he made." Applied by the Venetians to a large wharf in their city, which was the earliest meaning in Eng. Sense of "public place for
making or storing weapons and ammunition" is from 1570s. The London football club (1886) was named for the Royal Arsenal, Woolwich, where the original players worked.

**Frank Ettin** · March 5, 2013, 02:57 PM

Quote:

Occasionally on TV you hear reference to 'they had an arsenal'.
Whats defines an 'arsenal'? number of total guns?...

First, MarkDozier provided a good definition in post 3.

Second, we know that reporters, especially on TV, don't use words correctly.

Third, a discussion of media misuse of language is not a proper subject for T&T.

March 5, 2013, 01:20 AM	#1
bentbones Junior Member Join Date: November 14, 2006 Location: Wisconsin Posts: 4	define an arsenal Occasionally on TV you hear reference to 'they had an arsenal'. Whats defines an 'arsenal'? number of total guns? Number of different calibers of guns? Number of rounds of ammunition? What?

March 5, 2013, 01:30 AM	#2
BarryLee Senior Member Join Date: July 29, 2010 Location: The ATL (OTP) Posts: 3,946	Not a linguist here, but I think the term originally referred to a facility and not a specific collection. In other words the building armaments are stored or serviced in and not the actual items. However, it has come to mean any collection of firearms and I don’t think there is a specific size. Obviously it is used to sensationalize a story and another term would probably be more accurate, but not sure it is really wrong as far as modern usage goes. __________________ A major source of objection to a free economy is precisely that it ... gives people what they want instead of what a particular group thinks they ought to want. Underlying most arguments against the free market is a lack of belief in freedom itself. - Milton Friedman

Thread Tools	Search this Thread
Show Printable Version Email this Page	Search this Thread: Advanced Search

March 5, 2013, 02:01 AM	#3
MarkDozier Senior Member Join Date: February 1, 2010 Posts: 363	World English Dictionary arsenal (ˈɑːsən ə l) — n 1. a store for arms, ammunition, and other military items 2. a workshop or factory that produces munitions 3. a store of anything regarded as weapons: an arsenal of destructive arguments [C16: from Italian arsenale dockyard, from the original Venetian arsenal dockyard and naval store, from Arabic dār sīn`ah, from dār house + sīn`ah manufacture] Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition 2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009 Cite This Source Etymonline Word Origin & History arsenal c.150o, "dockyard," from It. arzenale, from Arabic dar as-sina'ah "workshop," lit. "house of manufacture," from dar "house" + sina'ah "art, craft, skill," from sana'a "he made." Applied by the Venetians to a large wharf in their city, which was the earliest meaning in Eng. Sense of "public place for making or storing weapons and ammunition" is from 1570s. The London football club (1886) was named for the Royal Arsenal, Woolwich, where the original players worked.