Armory vs Arsenal

This might be loosely related to PoE, but not enough to be in an other forum section.

Is there really a difference in meaning between armory and arsenal?
I've googled it a bit, compared definitions in wiktionary, but the various explanations contradict each other and are not really satisfying.

Which one makes the weapons? Which one stores them?
Why use different words if they have exactly the same meaning?

English uses multiple words for same meaning because it is bloated (or fat LOL).

Neither makes the weapons, as far as I know. That would be something else. The only minor difference really, a denotation rather than connotation, would be:

Arsenal. I have an arsenal of guns. A veritable arsenal. But no one ever says a gun nut has an armory. An armory is more of a formal name of a storage facility, usually military in our day.

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kolyaboo wrote:

English uses multiple words for same meaning because it is bloated (or fat LOL).

Your statement is only partially correct, and for the wrong sentiment. English pulls from many other languages, both ancient and modern. "Armory" has roots in both English and French, while "Arsenal" has roots in French, Italian, Venetian, and Arabic.

Armory is specifically related to armaments, ie: arms, or rather weapons used to wage war, while arsenal is related to munitions, ammunition, and military equipment. So "armory" is more appropriate when talking about ancient and medieval weapons, while "arsenal" is more appropriate when talking about modern weapons. But English speaking people will often stretch that meaning and use the two interchangeably, thus changing the meaning over time and possibly causing overlap of meaning with other words.

I don't think there is that much of a difference between them in the english language, but it gets somewhat interesting if you translate them into german for example. While the translations for arsenal are used exclusively for places to store weapons, the translations for armoury are much broader, and include ones that would be used for places to store armour. So while they are similar, there is a slight deviation in their meaning. I'd say arsenal should be used for a weapon storage, while armoury is more for armours (as the name suggests). Might be personal preference though, not 100% sure.

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Cipher_nemo wrote:

English pulls from many other languages, both ancient and modern.

Your point? Russian pulls from: old Slavonic, Polish, French, English, German, Dutch, Greek, Latin, and more. I don't know why people always say English has borrowed from all these different languages (which it has) as if this is some unique feat and explains why there are numerous words for one meaning.

It is rather bloated, but that is ending since most people have a shitty fucking vocabulary now and it is getting worse, so no worries.

The average reader in America has to use a dictionary to read popular novels. I saw someone the other day that had to sound out words in a Spenser novel. WTF?

Hey FCK42, I think you are right about the original meaning of armory (which was originally spelled as you did but is now only that way in Brit. English). Anyway, yeah, I would not split hairs about the meaning of the 2 words now since there is overlap as people don't store body armor separately. I don't own any, but if I did I would not keep it in a separate room from the guns.

I'm glad this thread caught some interest. As I see, once again the meanings seem far from unanimous.

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kolyaboo wrote:

Neither makes the weapons, as far as I know.

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From Wiktionary: Armory
4. A place where arms are made.

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From Wiktinoary: Arsenal
1. A military establishment for the storing, development, manufacturing, testing, or repairing of arms, ammunition, and other war materiel; an armoury.

I tried to make do with the definitions and meanings I've found so far, perhaps those meanings are extended and do not exactly characterize those words?

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FCK42 wrote:

I don't think there is that much of a difference between them in the english language, but it gets somewhat interesting if you translate them into german for example. While the translations for arsenal are used exclusively for places to store weapons, the translations for armoury are much broader, and include ones that would be used for places to store armour. So while they are similar, there is a slight deviation in their meaning. I'd say arsenal should be used for a weapon storage, while armoury is more for armours (as the name suggests). Might be personal preference though, not 100% sure.

This applies to the French translation too. But when a language picks vocabulary from another language, there is a drift in meaning; which is why a strict intra-language discussion is often chosen, and, if I may, wisely so. It's definitely true that the etymology of armory is armor, but the English language seemed to have chosen a different path for its meaning.

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Najrah wrote:

Why use different words if they have exactly the same meaning?

One can store one's arsenal in one's armory, but can't store one's armory in one's arsenal. Similar to the word wardrobe, which can mean either "one's entire collection of clothes" or "a piece of furniture intended to contain such a collection," the word arsenal can refer to a collection or to a container/location, but armory refers to the container/location only.

I have seen the word armory used to refer to a collection itself, and I guess that makes sense figuratively (ex: "the best dress in her closet"), but using "armory" that way is just so... gauche.