appurtenance •\ə-ˈpərt-nən (t) s, -ˈpər-tə-nən (t) s\• noun 1. equipment consisting of miscellaneous articles needed for a particular operation or sport 2. a supplementary component that improves capability The word appurtenance has appeared in nine New York Times articles in the past year, on Feb. 9 in the Critical Shopper column "The Promise of the Cure-All Dress" by Alexandra Jacobs: But the airy, vivid new shop is an electric prod in the bland flank of SoHo, the onetime arts mecca where it is now not uncommon to encounter anesthetized out-of-towners standing four deep, bumping bags from Victoria's Secret and Sephora as they gaze into iPhones purchased on the site of a grand former post office. ... Whatever accommodations her corporate headquarters approves, Stella McCartney is in no danger of being mistaken for a Chuck E. Cheese. The soundtrack is, as one might expect, sophisticated (featuring both "She Said She Said" by the Beatles and the Rolling Stones" "Mixed Emotions"). The appurtenances are graceful, with inlaid blue accents and sculptural hooks in the dressing rooms. And the clothes are divine. Learn more about the word "appurtenance" and see usage examples across a range of subjects on the Vocabulary dictionary.