arsenal

noun

ar·​se·​nal ˈärs-nəl 

ˈär-sə-

1

a

: an establishment for the manufacture or storage of arms and military equipment

The city is home to a federal arsenal.

b

: a collection of weapons

2

: store, repertoire

the team's arsenal of veteran players

Synonyms of arsenal

• armory
• warehouse

Examples of arsenal in a Sentence

The city is home to a federal arsenal.

Doctors have a broad arsenal of medicines to choose from.

the team's arsenal of veteran players

Recent Examples on the Web

North Korea’s missile arsenal also includes intermediate-range systems such as the Hwasong-10, known internationally as the BM-25 Musudan. —Micah McCartney, MSNBC Newsweek, 25 Nov. 2025

The Hurricanes anticipate Blay returning this week against Pittsburgh, which would give Miami its full arsenal of interior defensive lineman for the regular-season finale. —Jordan McPherson, Miami Herald, 25 Nov. 2025

Hezbollah has said that talk about its military arsenal should come through dialogue with the Lebanese state once Israel stops its attacks. —Fadi Tawil, Arkansas Online, 24 Nov. 2025

There’s an arsenal of research that confirms vaccines do not cause autism, but one of the most robust is a population study published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2002. —Korin Miller, SELF, 24 Nov. 2025

Word History

Etymology

earlier, "dockyard for the construction and repair of naval vessels," borrowed from Middle French archenal, arsenail, arsenal (in reference to the naval dockyard of Venice), borrowed (with conformation of the final to -al -al entry 2) from Upper Italian (Venice) arzanà, presumably alteration (by metanalysis, with the initial taken as the preposition d', di "from") of darsenà (attested in Genoese, earlier in Medieval Latin as darsena, darsana), borrowed from Arabic dār al-ṣināʽa "place of manufacture," from dār "house" + al "the" (assimilated to aṣ) + ṣināʽa "manufacture" (derivative of ṣanaʽa "to make")

Note: Forms with final -ale (as arsenale, arzanale, arzenale) are attested in Italian in the sixteenth century and may be the immediate source of the English word. The French forms with -al may reflect these, though attested about a century earlier. As arzanà the Venetian word is attested in the text of Dante's Inferno ("nell'arzanà de' Viniziani," XXI, 7).

First Known Use

1555, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Kids Definition

arsenal

noun

ar·​se·​nal ˈärs-nəl 

-ᵊn-əl

1

: a place for the manufacture or storage of arms

2

: a collection of weapons