armament

noun

ar·​ma·​ment ˈär-mə-mənt 

 also  ˈärm-mənt

1

: a military or naval force

2

a

: the aggregate of a nation's military strength

b

: weapons, arms

3

: the process of preparing for war

Examples of armament in a Sentence

The country's armament will take years.

a small nation that is determined to have adequate armaments

Recent Examples on the Web

Even before then, U.S. officials claimed to have intelligence showing that Russia bought millions of rockets and artillery shells from North Korea, which secretly supplied the armaments by disguising them as shipments to other countries. —Jacob Knutson, Axios, 23 Oct. 2024

The package will include ammunition, military equipment, and armaments. —Katya Soldak, Forbes, 21 Oct. 2024

After the ensuing, decadeslong nuclear anxiety of the Cold War, these world-ending armaments are once again causing global unease amid wars in Ukraine and the Middle East. —Alexander Smith, NBC News, 11 Oct. 2024

In the aftermath of World War II, all the conflict parties, including the United Kingdom, Russia, Japan and the United States, had to divest themselves of armaments. —Paul Hockenos, Smithsonian Magazine, 10 Sep. 2024

Word History

Etymology

probably borrowed from French armement "action of arming, equipping of an armed force" (from armer "to arm entry 2" + -ment -ment), reshaped after Latin armāmenta (neuter plural) "sailing gear of a ship, equipment, implements," from armāre "to arm entry 2, equip" + -menta, plural of -mentum -ment

First Known Use

1632, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

armament

noun

ar·​ma·​ment ˈär-mə-mənt 

1

: the military strength and equipment of a nation

2

: a supply of war materials

3

: the process of preparing for war