artillery

The word “artillery” means large guns used in warfare, or the branch of an army that operates them. In plain terms, heavy guns used in warfare, or the military unit that operates them.

“Artillery” is pronounced ah-TIH-luh-ree (/ɑɹˈtɪləɹi/ in IPA).

Here is “artillery” used in a sentence: “The artillery bombarded the enemy position at dawn.”

“Artillery” is a noun.

The word “artillery” comes from Old French. From Old French artillerie, related to atillier, "to equip or fit out" — originally covering any war equipment, not just big guns.

“Artillery” is a fairly common word in modern English.

Artillery is the branch of an army that operates large guns, as well as the guns themselves. Infantry, by contrast, refers to soldiers who fight on foot. The two are distinct branches with different roles on the battlefield.

A cannon is a single large gun, whereas "artillery" is a collective term covering large guns in general or the army branch that uses them. An army might have powerful artillery made up of many individual cannons.

"Artillery" is an uncountable (mass) noun and takes a singular verb, as in "the artillery was positioned on the ridge." You do not add an -s to make it plural; to count the weapons, use "pieces of artillery."

"Artillery" often pairs with words like "fire," "shell," "barrage," "battery," and "piece," and appears in phrases such as "heavy artillery" and "artillery bombardment." Figuratively, "bring out the heavy artillery" means to use one's most powerful resources.