Apparatus

How to spell apparatus

9 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce apparatus

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does apparatus mean?

1. nounA set of equipment or instruments assembled for a particular purpose, especially in science, sport, or industry.
2. nounThe complex structure of a particular system or organisation, such as government or administration.

Apparatus in a sentence

• The laboratory apparatus was sterilised before the experiment began.

• The entire bureaucratic apparatus slowed the approval of every permit.

• Firefighters checked every piece of breathing apparatus before the drill.

• Reformers wanted to dismantle the security apparatus of the old regime.

Where does apparatus come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word comes straight from Latin apparatus, a noun meaning 'preparation', 'equipment', or 'the gear assembled for a task'. It was formed from the verb apparare, 'to make ready' or 'to prepare for', which itself joins the prefix ad- (here softened to ap- before the p), meaning 'to' or 'toward', with parare, 'to prepare' or 'to furnish'. The same parare root underlies a whole family of familiar English words such as 'prepare', 'repair', and 'apparel', so the idea of getting things ready for use runs through all of them. English adopted apparatus in the seventeenth century, keeping the Latin spelling intact, first for the equipment used in experiments and later for any organised system of parts, including the machinery of government. Because it was taken over wholesale from Latin, it kept the singular -us ending that trips writers up; the plural can stay 'apparatus' or, in formal use, become 'apparatuses'. The single p after the initial a and the double-p that many expect is the usual spelling trap, since the assimilated ad- gives only one extra p.

How the word is built

• ap- (assimilated form of ad-: to, toward)
• par (from parare: to prepare, make ready)
• -atus (Latin noun-forming suffix)