multiarmed

Multiarmed is an adjective describing someone or something that has more than two arms or arm-like appendages. The term is used across disciplines to convey the idea of multiplicity of simultaneous capabilities or functions. In mythology and religion, multiarmed figures symbolize power, protection, or the ability to perform many tasks at once. In Hindu art, deities such as Durga and Vishnu are often depicted with four or more arms, each wielding weapons or symbols; in Buddhist art, Avalokiteshvara is sometimes shown with a thousand arms to represent boundless compassion and the capacity to aid all beings. In biology, real organisms with multiple limbs can be described as multiarmed; octopuses have eight arms, while some crustaceans have multiple walking legs. The term is primarily descriptive, not taxonomic, and does not specify the exact number of arms.

In technology and engineering, multiarmed refers to devices or systems with several manipulators. Multi-armed robots or robotic arms are used in manufacturing, surgery, and research to perform parallel tasks, but coordinating multiple arms raises challenges in control, collision avoidance, and synchronization. In computing, the phrase appears in the context of the multi-armed bandit problem, a foundational concept in reinforcement learning that studies how to balance exploration and exploitation among several options with uncertain rewards.

Overall, multiarmed serves as a flexible descriptive term for systems or beings featuring multiple limb-like components, highlighting the potential for increased versatility and complexity.