Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The complete equipment of a physician or medical institution, including books, supplies, and instruments.
  • noun The complete range of materials available or used for a task.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun An armamentary.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun All of the equipment available for carrying out a task, especially all the equipment used by a physician in the practice of medicine.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun the collection of equipment and methods used in the practice of medicine

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Latin armāmentārium, arsenal, from armāmenta, tools; see armament.]

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Examples

Comments

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  • Seen here, in this kind of scary article.

    October 20, 2009

  • I have always been struck by the preference of medical people for this term. It is a metaphorical term and means nothing more than a stock of arms; that is, an armory. But physicians will always prefer a six-syllable word where a three-syllable word would do.

    June 18, 2014

  • But armory has come to refer also to the broader range of weapons or devices at one's disposal, I think. For example, a physician's armory might include fresh air, a week at Bath, laying off the booze and sausages, or reading more or less Poe. But the armamentarium would solely be the drugs.

    June 22, 2014

  • An interpretation that treats the medical profession generously, but if a distinction needs to be made between the paraphernalia of intervention and provision for healthful living why not arsenal and armory? To my ear armamentarium clanks and clatters with the intention to impress.

    June 22, 2014