Definition of apparatus | Collins English Dictionary

apparatus (ˌæpəˈreɪtəs;-ˈrɑːtəs;ˈæpəˌreɪtəs)

a collection of instruments, machines, tools, parts, or other equipment used for a particular purpose
a machine having a specific function ⇒ breathing apparatus
the means by which something operates; organization ⇒ the apparatus of government
anatomy any group of organs having a specific function

C17: from Latin, from apparāre to make ready

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= organization, system, network, structure, bureaucracy, hierarchy, setup, chain of command

British English: apparatus The apparatus of an organization or system is its structure and method of operation....the technical apparatus of management.ˌæpəˈreɪtəs; -ˈrɑːtəs; ˈæpəˌreɪtəs NOUN ...the technical apparatus of management.
Spanish: aparato nm
French: appareil nm
German: Apparat nm
Chinese: 机构 n
Arabic: جِهَاز n
Portuguese: aparelho nm
Russian: прибор nm
Croatian: naprava nm
Czech: přístroj nm
Danish: apparat nnt
Dutch: apparaat nnt
Finnish: laite n
Greek: εξοπλισμός nm
Italian: attrezzatura nf
Japanese: 器具 n
Korean: 기구 n
Norwegian: apparat nnt
Polish: sprzęt nm
Brazilian Portuguese: aparelho nm
European Spanish: aparato nm
Swedish: apparat nutr
Thai: เครื่องมือ n
Turkish: aygıt n
Vietnamese: bộ máy n

`Have the goodness, sir, to cough a little into my apparatus.
Penelope Fitzgerald, HUMAN VOICES (2003)
The team worked out how well the hearing apparatus they found could respond to sounds of various frequencies.
New Scientist (2004)
The flight did not have a docking apparatus or enough fuel to enable Columbia to carry its crew to the space station.
Globe and Mail (2003)
Now here, a decade on, I was faced with a monstrous apparatus , actually called the Cross Trainer.
Belfast Telegraph (2004)
Covent Garden now had the largest control system in the country situated in a `central apparatus room' behind the grand tier.
Susie Gilbert and Jay Shir, A TALE OF FOUR HOUSES: Opera at Covent Garden, La Scala, Vienna and the Met since 1945 (2003)