World English Dictionary
arsenal (ˈɑːsən ə l)
— n
1. a store for arms, ammunition, and other military items
2. a workshop or factory that produces munitions
3. a store of anything regarded as weapons: an arsenal of destructive arguments
[C16: from Italian arsenale dockyard, from the original Venetian arsenal dockyard and naval store, from Arabic dār sīn`ah, from dār house + sīn`ah manufacture]
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History
arsenal
c.150o, "dockyard," from It. arzenale, from Arabic dar as-sina'ah "workshop," lit. "house of manufacture," from dar "house" + sina'ah "art, craft, skill," from sana'a "he made." Applied by the Venetians to a large wharf in their city, which was the earliest meaning in Eng. Sense of "public place for
making or storing weapons and ammunition" is from 1570s. The London football club (1886) was named for the Royal Arsenal, Woolwich, where the original players worked.