apparatus
/ˌæp.əˈɹeɪ.təs/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.78 in modern English
13
Scrabble Score
9
Letters
4
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
The entirety of means whereby a specific production is made existent or task accomplished.
noun
A complex machine or instrument.
noun
An assortment of tools and instruments.
noun
A bureaucratic organization, especially one influenced by political patronage.
noun
A vehicle used for emergency response.
noun
Any of the objects that the gymnasts wield while performing and used as part of the performance itself.
noun
A complex, highly modified weapon (typically not a firearm); a weaponized “Rube Goldberg machine.”
Example Sentences
- "These television stations are part of the apparatus and power of Milosevic. This is the apparatus he has used to do the ethnic cleansing in Kosovo. It is the apparatus that keeps him in power and we are entirely justified as Nato allies in damaging and taking on those targets."
- "Among the many good points Thomas Piketty makes in Capital in the Twenty First Century – his world-changing but surprisingly mild book – is that extreme inequality can be sustained politically only through an “apparatus of justification”."
- "Many jihadist plots have been foiled and the security apparatus is getting better, overall, at pre-empting those who would do us ill. But, they say, the nature of the threat and the terrorists’ increasing use of low-tech, asymmetrical tactics such as hire vehicles and knives, make it all but impossible to stop every assault."
- "It describes a “coordinated effort by the CCP’s propaganda apparatus … to discredit the BBC, distract international attention and recapture control of the narrative,” mostly outside Chinese borders."
- "“I have met my young photographer,” said De Stancy, cheerily. “What a small world it is, as every busybody truly observes! I am wishing he could take some views for us as we go on; but you have no apparatus with you, I suppose, Mr. Dare?”"
- "An apparatus for exploring the atmosphere of a planet such as Venus, at a specific altitude, was patented this week for a French agency, the Office Nationale d'Etudes et de Recherche Aerospatiales."
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂éd Proto-Italic *ad Proto-Italic *ad- Latin ad- Proto-Indo-European *perh₃- Proto-Indo-European *pr̥h₃o- Latin *paro- Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti Proto-Indo-European *-h₂tiinflu. Proto-Italic *-ājō Proto-Italic *-āō Latin -ō Latin parō Latin apparō Proto-Indo-European *-tus Proto-Italic *-tus Latin -tus Latin apparātuslbor. English apparatus Learned borrowing from Latin apparātus. Doublet of apparat.