appliance

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appliance

/əˈplaɪ.əns/

Rhymes with -aɪəns

Where it comes from

Recorded since the 1560s. From the English apply + -ance.

noun appliances

countable, uncountable An implement, an instrument or apparatus designed (or at least used) as a means to a specific end, especially Canst thou, O partial sleep, give thy repose To the wet sea-boy in an hour so rude; And in the calmest and most stillest night, With all appliances and means to boot, Deny it to a king?
countable, uncountable A non-manual apparatus or device, powered electrically or by another small motor, used in homes to perform domestic functions (household appliance) and/or in offices. Many house fires are caused by faulty appliances, such as refrigerators, washing machines and dryers.
countable, uncountable An attachment, a piece of equipment to adapt another tool or machine to a specific purpose.
countable, obsolete, uncountable The act of applying. 1658, Elias Ashmole, The Way to Bliss, London: Nath. Brook, Book 2, Chapter 2 “Of Health,” p. 75, […] there be three things, and every one full of under-branches belonging to this Art and way of Healing: The first is knowledge of the Diseases: the second is the Remedies against them: and the third o
Similar: application
countable, obsolete, uncountable A means of eliminating or counteracting something undesirable, especially an illness. […] Diseases desperate grown By desperate appliance are reliev’d, Or not at all.
Similar: cure, medicine, remedy
countable, obsolete, rare, uncountable Willing service, willingness to act as someone wishes. And hearing your high majesty is touch’d With that malignant cause wherein the honour Of my dear father’s gift stands chief in power, I come to tender it and my appliance With all bound humbleness.
Similar: compliance

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: contrivance, contraption, convenience, widget, gizmo, gadget, stove, fixture, kiln, gear, equipment, machine, mechanism, head, apparatus, machinery

Translations

Every language

noun an implement, instrument or apparatus

Español	implemento, instrumento, aparato, enseres
한국어	기구 gigu
हिन्दी	उपकरण upakraṇ
Português	dispositivo
Français	appareil électrique
Deutsch	Haushaltsgerät, Vorrichtung, Apparat, Anordnung
Ελληνικά	συσκευή syskeví
Русский	приспособле́ние prisposoblénije, прибо́р pribór

noun a device in its own right

Español	electrodoméstico, aparato
한국어	기계 gigye, 기구 gigu
日本語	器械 kikai, 機器 kiki, 器具 kigu
中文	器械 qìxiè, 器具 qìjù, 機器 /机器 jīqì
हिन्दी	उपकरण upakraṇ
Português	aparelho, dispositivo
Français	appareil
Deutsch	Gerät, Apparat
Ελληνικά	συσκευή syskeví
Русский	прибо́р pribór, устро́йство ustrójstvo, аппара́т apparát
العربية	جِهَاز jihāz

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MLA

"appliance." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/appliance. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

appliance. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/appliance

Chicago

"appliance." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/appliance.

BibTeX

@misc{appliance_2026,
  title = {appliance},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/appliance},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}