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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

Related Words

array, exhibit, fanfare, parade, show, splash, dash, pretension, spectacle, affectation, demonstration, frippery, layout, exposure, panorama, arrangement, spread, exposition, exhibition, scheme

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