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panoply

[pan-uh-plee]
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noun, plural pan·o·plies.
  1. a wide-ranging and impressive array or display: the dazzling panoply of the maharaja's procession; the panoply of European history.
  2. a complete suit of armor.
  3. a protective covering.
  4. full ceremonial attire or paraphernalia; special dress and equipment.
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Origin of panoply

1570–80; < Greek panoplía full complement of arms and armor, equivalent to pan- pan- + (h)ópl(a) arms, armor (cf. hoplite) + -ia -ia
Related formspan·o·plied, adjectiveun·pan·o·plied, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for panoply

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • There is no panoply like that which love provides, and she who bears it has the whole armour of God.

    St. Cuthbert's

    Robert E. Knowles

  • We reach here the last and only offensive weapon in the panoply.

  • The pavilion of God is the saint's place of rest; the panoply of God is his coat of mail.

    George Muller of Bristol

    Arthur T. Pierson

  • And, amid that panoply of long-ago, she recognised Séverac Bablon.

  • He was a savage, in the war-paint and panoply of a Blackfoot brave.

    The Prairie Chief

    R.M. Ballantyne

British Dictionary definitions for panoply

panoply

noun plural -plies
  1. a complete or magnificent array
  2. the entire equipment of a warrior
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Derived Formspanoplied, adjective

Word Origin

C17: via French from Greek panoplia complete armour, from pan- + hopla armour, pl of hoplon tool
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for panoply

n.

1570s, from Greek panoplia "complete suit of armor," from pan- "all" (see pan-) + hopla (plural), "arms" of a hoplites ("heavily armed soldier"); see hoplite. Originally in English figurative, of "spiritual armor," etc. (a reference to Eph. vi); non-armorial sense of "any splendid array" first recorded 1829.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper