n.
- a periodical publication containing articles and illustrations.
▸a regular television or radio programme comprising a variety of items.
- a chamber for holding a supply of cartridges to be fed automatically to the breech of a gun.
- a store for arms, ammunition, and explosives.
History
The term magazine comes from the French word magasin, which derives from an Arabic word meaning ‘storehouse’. In the 16th century magazine in English meant ‘store’; it was often used in the title of books providing information for particular groups of people, giving rise to sense 1. The sense ‘a store for arms’ survives as a specialised use of the original sense, dating from the late 16th century.
