n. 1. A governmental establishment for the storing, development, manufacturing, testing, or repairing of arms, ammunition, and other war materiel. 2. A stock of weapons. 3. A store or supply: an arsenal of retorts. [Italian arsenale, from obsolete arzanale, darsena, from Arabic aṣ-ṣinā'a, manufacture, industry, and dār aṣ-ṣinā'a, place of manufacture : dār, house (from dāra, to turn, revolve; see dwr in the Appendix of Semitic roots) + al-, the + ṣinā'a, manufacture (from ṣana'a, to make; see ṣnʿ in the Appendix of Semitic roots).] |
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