sb. Forms: 4 artel-, artilrie, 5 artellerye, artilȝery, artylery, -lrye, artailȝierie, 5–6 artyllerye, artillary, -arie, -ari, 6 artelere, artellere, artilerie, artylary, -llary, -lerey, 6–7 artillerie, 6– artillery. See also ARTAILLIE, ARTRY. [a. OFr. artillerie, arteillerie, cogn. w. It. arti-, arteglieria, Sp. artillaria, Pg. arti-, artelharia, Pr. artilharia: see ARTILLER and -ERY.]
† 1. Warlike munitions, implements of war; ammunition in the wide sense. Obs.
c. 1386. Chaucer, Melib., ¶ 367. I shal warnestoore myn hous with toures swiche as han Castelles and othere manere edifices and Armure and Artelries [v.r. artelleryes] by whiche thynges I may my persone and myn hous … deffenden.
1481. Act 11 Jas. III. (1597), § 82. Victualles, men and artailȝierie.
1485. Caxton, Chas. Gt. (1880), 162. Anone the artylleryes were assembled.
1550–63. Machyn, Diary (1848), 191. All maner of artelere as drumes, flutes, trumpetes, gones, mores pykes, halbardes.
1582. Lanc. Wills (1857), I. 132. I geave … all maner of artyllerye or harneysse, as jack, salett, whyte harnesse.
1625. trans. Gonsalvio’s Sp. Inquis. A cunning huntsman with all his furniture, hauing his artillery about him, his snares, grinnes, heyes, dogges, &c.
1794. S. Williams, Hist. Vermont, 177. A club made of hard wood, a stake hardened in the fire, a lance armed with a flint or a bone, a bow and an arrow constituted the whole artillery of an Indian war.
2. Engines for discharging missiles. a. Formerly including catapults, slings, arbalests, bows, etc.
1476. Sir J. Paston, in Lett., 776, III. 162. All hys ordynaunce and artylrye.
1489. Caxton, Faytes of Armes, I. xii. 31. Artyllerye of al maner shot.
1545. Ascham, Toxoph. (Arb.), 65. Artillarie now a dayes is taken for ii thinges: Gunnes and Bowes.
1601. Holland, Pliny, I. 199. Brakes, slings and other engins of artillery.
1611. Bible, 1 Sam. xx. 40. Ionathan gaue his artillery [Wyclif, aarmis; Coverdale, wapens] vnto his ladde, and said vnto him, Goe, cary them to the citie.
1703. Maundrell, Journ. Jerus. (1721), 126. Amongst the Artillery was an old Roman Balista.
1874. Boutell, Arms & Arm., xi. 213. Ancient artillery … could never have led the way to the introduction of modern artillery. They have really nothing in common.
b. Now: Large guns, cannon, ordnance.
c. 1533. Ld. Berners, Huon, 315. To take the way towardes Coleyne with al his artylerey and caryage.
1560. Whitehorne, Ord. Souldiours (1588), 34. The toucheholes of artillerie to be nailed vp.
1595. Shaks., John, II. i. 403. Turne thou the mouth of thy Artillerie … against these sawcie walles.
1597. Daniel, Civ. Wares, VI. xxvi. Artillerie, th’ infernall instrument, New brought from hell to scourge mortalitie With hideous roaring, and astonishment.
1598. Florio, Serpentina … a kind of ordinance, bumbard or artillerie.
1703. Maundrell, Journ. Jerus. (1732), 19. Port-holes for Artillery, instead of windows.
1803. Lake, in Wellesley Disp. (1877), 395. The enemy opposed to us a tremendous fire from a numerous artillery.
1806. A. Duncan, Nelson’s Fun. A large park of flying artillery.
1815. Wellington, in Knight, Crown Hist. Eng., lix. 803. Napoleon … mixed cavalry with his infantry, and supported both with an enormous quantity of artillery.
† 3. Missiles discharged in war, shot, ammunition.
1563. Golding, Cæsar (1565), 249. From whence wyth an engine artillery might have bene shotte among the thyckest of hys ennemyes.
1575. Banister, Chyrurg., II. (1585), 270. Search with a probe, which way the pellet is gone, (this obserue in the drawing out of all artillerie).
1630. Westcote, Devon., 43. Hurling flints and pebbles and other such like artillery.
1867. Pearson, Hist. Eng., I. 23. The war-ships … poured in their artillery on the British flank.
4. The science and practice of using artillery; † a. formerly, Archery. Obs.
1545. Ascham, Toxoph. (Arb.), 21. That fletcher is an enemy to archers and artillery.
1550–3. Four Supplic. (1871), 100. It is a great decay to artyllary: for shepeherdes be but yll artchers.
1801. Strutt, Sports & Past., II. i. 51. Overseers of the science of artillery, by which was meant long-bows, cross-bows, and hand-guns.
b. Gunnery. (Craig, 1847, and mod. Dicts.)
† c. (see quot.) Obs.
1727–51. Chambers, Cycl., Artillery is also used for what we otherwise called pyrotechnia, or the art of fire-works, with the instruments and apparatus belonging thereto.
5. That branch of an army which manages the cannons in war; one of the ‘arms of the service.’
1786. Beatson, Pol. Index, II. 138. The Master General of the Ordnance … is Colonel in Chief of the Royal Regiment of Artillery.
1849. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., I. iii. 305. There was no regiment of artillery, no brigade of sappers and miners.
1866. Standard, 2 Nov., 5/6. To transform the heavy cavalry into horse artillery.
Mod. In the British Army, the ‘Royal Regiment of Artillery’ consists of two brigades of Horse Artillery, four of Field Artillery, and eleven of Garrison Artillery, each brigade consisting of from 8 to 20 or more batteries.
6. fig. (with reference to 1, 2, 3.)
1599. Warn. Faire Wom., I. 314. Repulse loves false Artillery.
a. 1667. Cowley, Lover’s Chron., viii. And th’ artillery of her eye.
1714. Mandeville, Fab. Bees (1733), II. 126. She has all the artillery of our sex to fear.
1764. Reid, Inquiry, V. vii. And laughs at the artillery of the logician.
1809. Syd. Smith, Wks. (1859), I. 163/1. With his whole heavy artillery of argument and quotation.
1870. L’Estrange, Miss Mitford, I. v. 157. Not proof against the artillery of puns.
7. Thunder and lightning. Only poet.
1596. Shaks., Tam. Shr., I. ii. 205. Haue I not heard great Ordnance in the field? And heauen’s Artillerie thunder in the skies?
1695. Woodward, Nat. Hist. Earth, II. (1723), 103. The whole Artillery of the Sky.
1718. Pope, Iliad, XII. 331. As when high Jove his sharp artillery forms.
8. Comb. and Attrib. (Chiefly in senses 2 b and 5), as artillery-brigade, -company, -founder, -officer, -practice. Artillery-boat, a boat carrying artillery, a gun-boat; artillery-company, a company of archers (obs.), or of artillery in sense 5; artillery-driver, one who drives the horses that draw field-guns; † artillery-garden, an archery-ground; artillery-harness for horses that draw field-guns; artillery-park, the place in which the artillery is encamped, or in which during a siege it is collected; artillery-train, a number of pieces of ordnance mounted on carriages and fitted out with all appurtenances for marching.
1876. Bancroft, Hist. U. S., V. ix. 428. The ‘Carleton,’ accompanied by the *artillery-boats.
1681. Lond. Gaz., mdcxxvii. The President, Vice-President, Treasurer, Court of Assistants, and the rest of the *Artillery-Company of London.
1784–5. Ann. Reg., 64/1. This fraternity is to this day called the artillery-company, which is a French term signifying archery.
1844. Macready, Remin., II. 242. A neat little fort with an artillery company commands the passage.
1832. Gen. P. Thompson, Exerc. (1842), II. 275. Increasing the corps of *artillery-drivers with men expert in the vocation.
1877. Daily News, 25 Oct., 5/5. Incessant *artillery firing is being carried on on both sides.
1728. Morgan, Algiers, II. iv. 275. The Basha’s *Artillery-founder, cast for them a huge iron mace.
1593. Nashe, Christes Teares (1613), 39. Heauen … shall bee made an *Artillery-house of Haile-stones.
1855. W. Sargent, Braddock’s Exp., 203. Four *artillery-officers were left with Dunbar.
1768. Simes, Mil. Medley, *Artillery-Park is a place appointed in the rear of both lines of the army for encamping the artillery.
1871. Tyndall, Fragm. Sc., i. 17. In *artillery practice the heat generated is usually concentrated upon the front of the bolt.
1642. Bridge, Serm. Norfolk Volunteers, 7. The heart of man is the *Artillery-yard, where all the thoughts of courage train continually.
