a royal or public magazine, or place appointed for the making and keeping of arms necessary either for defence or assault. Some derive this word from ars, a fortress; others from ars, denoting a machine; others again from arx and senatus, because this was the defence of the senate; but the more probable opinion derives it from the Arabic darsena, which signifies arsenal. The arsenal of Venice is the place where the galleys are built and laid up. The arsenal of Paris is that where the cannon or great guns are cast.