Hypertext Webster Gateway: "apparatus"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Apparatus \Ap"pa*ratus\, n.; pl. {Apparatus}, also rarely
{Apparatuses}. [L., from apparare, apparatum, to prepare; ad
+ prepare to make ready.]
1. Things provided as means to some end.
2. Hence: A full collection or set of implements, or
utensils, for a given duty, experimental or operative; any
complex instrument or appliance, mechanical or chemical,
for a specific action or operation; machinery; mechanism.
3. (Physiol.) A collection of organs all of which unite in a
common function; as, the respiratory apparatus.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
apparatus
n 1: equipment designed to serve a specific function [syn: {setup}]
2: (anatomy) a group of body parts that work together to
perform a given function; "the breathing apparatus"
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