Armada

[ahr-mah-duh, -mey-]

noun

1. Also called Invincible Armada. Also called Spanish Armada. the fleet sent against England by Philip II of Spain in 1588. It was defeated by the English navy and later dispersed and wrecked by storms.

2. (lowercase),  any fleet of warships.

3. (lowercase),  a large group or force of vehicles, airplanes, etc..

   an armada of transport trucks.

Armada

¹

/ ɑːˈmɑːdə /

noun

1. See Spanish Armada

armada

²

/ ɑːˈmɑːdə /

noun

1. a large number of ships or aircraft

Word History and Origins

Origin of Armada¹

1525–35; < Spanish < Latin armāta armed forces, neuter plural of armātus (past participle of armāre to equip with arms). See arm ², -ate ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of Armada¹

C16: from Spanish, from Medieval Latin armāta fleet, armed forces, from Latin armāre to provide with arms

Example Sentences

The world’s greatest armada was allowed to rot in the harbor, and the Chinese court burned maps to prevent future voyages.

Read more on Wall Street Journal

And so the mission, as Kimmel put it earlier this week, is to show up not because it’s the Jimmy Kimmel Show or because you’re a monster fan of Jim Comey or Tish James, but because the other side in each of these battles comprises a massing legal armada capable of destroying every one of those people until it comes for the next guy.

Read more on Slate

Music producer Chris Whitehouse was asked to sign a non-disclosure agreement before creating a soundtrack for the festival's advert to be "voiced" by Idris Elba, who - he was told by Mr Kenny - would also DJ at the festival alongside dance headliners Groove Armada and Whigfield.

Read more on BBC

Elba's agent said there was, "no record of Idris doing anything for this man" and Groove Armada and Whigfield said they were never booked.

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The book was translated in the year of the Spanish Armada – when Elizabeth I was monarch – by Bishop William Morgan as part of an effort to bring scriptures to people in languages they understood.

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• fleet 
• flotilla 
• squadron