Ar-tĭl'ler-y, n.
n. [O. Fr. artillerie, arteillerie, Pr. artilharia, artilleria, L. Lat. artillaria, artilleria, machines and apparatus of all kinds used in war, vans laden with arms of any kind which follow camps; N. Fr. artillerie, Sp. artilleria, It. artiglieria, great guns, ordnance; Pr. artilha, artenalh, fortification, fort, citadel; O. Fr. artiller, artillier, to work with artifice, to fortify, to arm, from Lat. ars, artis, skill in joining something, art. See ART. This word has no plural.]
Sense 1. Offensive weapons of war; missiles used in warfare, as bows and arrows.
And Jonathan gave his artillery to his lad. 1 Sam. xx. 40.
Sense 2. Cannon; great guns; ordnance, including guns, mortars, howitzers, &c., with their furniture of carriages, balls, bombs, and shot of all kinds, and also rockets and grenades.
The word is sometimes used in a more extended sense, including the powder, cartridges, matches, utensils, machines of all kinds, and horses, that belong to a train of artillery.
Sense 3. The men who manage cannon and mortars, including matrosses, gunners, bombardiers, cannoniers, or by whatever name they are called, with the officers and engineers, and the persons who supply the others with implements and materials. Encyc. Brit.
Sense 4. The science of artillery and gunnery. Campbell.
Artillery-park, or park of artillery. (a.) The camp of one or more field batteries. (b.) The inclosure where, during a siege, the general camp of foot artillery, and depots of guns, materiel, &c., are collected. — Artillery train, a number of pieces of ordnance mounted on carriages, with all their furniture, fit for marching.