Skip to main content
PlainSpell

apparatus

/ˌæp.əˈɹeɪ.təs/noun

apparatus is spelled A-P-P-A-R-A-T-U-S: 9 letters and 4 syllables. It appears 6.0 times per million words in written English, the 9,878th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, apparatus means “The entirety of means whereby a specific production is made existent or task accomplished” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of apparatus is apparatuses or apparatusses; Wiktionary also lists apparatûs (rare), apparatūs (rare), apparati (hypercorrect).

How many letters and syllables are in apparatus?

Letters9: A-P-P-A-R-A-T-U-S
Syllables4 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing6.0 times per million words; the 9,878th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How common is apparatus?

Apparatus appears 6.0 times per million words in written English, the 9,878th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce apparatus?

  • /ˌæp.əˈɹeɪ.təs/
  • /ˌæp.əˈɹæt.əs/
  • /ˌæp.əˈɹɑː.təs/

Apparatus has 4 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-apparatus.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of apparatus

  • apparatuses plural
  • apparatusses plural
  • apparatûs plural, rare
  • apparatūs plural, rare
  • apparati hypercorrect, plural, rare

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does apparatus mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    The entirety of means whereby a specific production is made existent or task accomplished.

  2. 2

    A complex machine or instrument.

  3. 3

    An assortment of tools and instruments.

  4. 4

    A bureaucratic organization, especially one influenced by political patronage.

  5. 5

    A vehicle used for emergency response.

  6. 6

    Any of the equipment on which the gymnasts perform their movements.

  7. 7

    Any of the objects that the gymnasts wield while performing and used as part of the performance itself.

  8. 8

    A complex, highly modified weapon (typically not a firearm); a weaponized “Rube Goldberg machine.”

noun

as apparatûs
  1. 1

    rareplural of apparatus (a form of apparatus)

noun

as apparatūs
  1. 1

    rareplural of apparatus (a form of apparatus)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

How do you abbreviate apparatus?

Wiktionary records one abbreviation of apparatus: App.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Apparatus in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchappareil (complex machine or instrument)
GermanApparat (complex machine or instrument)
Portugueseaparelho, equipamento, aparato (complex machine or instrument), sistema (bureaucratic organization)
Spanishaparato (complex machine or instrument), aparataje (assortment of tools or instruments)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does apparatus come from?

Learned borrowing from Latin apparātus. Doublet of apparat.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after apparatus