Equipment

How to spell equipment

9 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce equipment

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does equipment mean?

1. nounThe tools, machinery, or supplies needed for a particular activity or purpose.

Equipment in a sentence

• The gym installed new equipment over the weekend.

• All safety equipment must be inspected before the shift begins.

Where does equipment come from?

Language of origin: French

The word traces back to the French verb équiper, meaning 'to fit out' or 'to supply', which originally referred specifically to outfitting a ship for a voyage. Many scholars connect équiper to the Old Norse skipa, 'to arrange' or 'to man a ship', built on skip, the very word that gives us 'ship'. English adopted the verb 'equip' in the sixteenth century, and the noun 'equipment' followed by the early eighteenth century, formed by adding the common noun-forming suffix -ment. The original nautical sense broadened over time to cover any gear, tools, or supplies needed for a particular purpose. The single 'p' in 'equipment' is the usual spelling trap, since the related forms 'equipped' and 'equipping' double it, while the noun does not.

How the word is built

• equip- (from French équiper: to fit out a ship)
• -ment (noun suffix denoting result or means)