armament
Americannoun
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(often plural) the weapon equipment of a military vehicle, ship, or aircraft
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a military force raised and armed ready for war
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preparation for war involving the production of equipment and arms
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of armament
1690–1700; < Latin armāmenta fittings, equivalent to armā ( re ) to fit out ( see arm 2) + -menta (plural) -ment
Explanation
Use the noun armament to talk about the kind of weapons that armies use when they wage wars. A tank, for example, is an armament. The word armament is good for describing heavy duty weaponry and the equipment that's associated with it, like bombs, fighter jets, tanks, and assault rifles. It's even more common to use the plural form, armaments. In the seventeenth century, the word was mainly used to mean "naval force equipped for war," and it comes from the Latin root armare, "to arm, or to furnish with weapons."
Vocabulary lists containing armament
Vocabulary from the First Presidential Debate: September 26, 2016
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Vocabulary from Woodrow Wilson's "Fourteen Points" (1918)
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Dracula
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Conflict Armament Research, a U.K.-based group that investigates weapons trafficking, said it has noticed a “discernible increase” in the use of components produced by Chinese manufacturers in Shahed-style drones.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 6, 2026
"It is unlikely that the significant blast damage seen here was caused by an Iranian surface-to-air missile, which carry relatively small explosive warheads," director of Armament Research Services, Jenzen Jones said.
From BBC • Mar. 5, 2026
Jenzen-Jones, a weapons expert who works as the director of the consultancy Armament Research Services.
From Seattle Times • Oct. 18, 2023
That’s what an officer was doing outside Engage Armament at 12:30 a.m.
From Washington Post • Dec. 9, 2022
Armament, �rm′a-ment, n. forces armed or equipped for war: munitions of war, esp. the great guns with which a ship is armed.
From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 1 of 4: A-D) by Various
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
