armistice

noun

ar·​mi·​stice ˈär-mə-stəs 

: temporary stopping of open acts of warfare by agreement between the opponents : truce

Did you know?

Armistice descends from Latin sistere, meaning "to come to a stand" or "to cause to stand or stop," combined with arma, meaning "weapons." An armistice, therefore, is literally a cessation of arms. Armistice Day is the name that was given to the holiday celebrated in the United States on November 11 before it was renamed Veterans Day by Congress in 1954. The original name refers to the agreement between the Allied Powers and Germany to end hostilities that constituted the First World War—an agreement designated to take effect on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month.

Synonyms

• cease-fire
• truce

Examples of armistice in a Sentence

both sides in the conflict agreed to an armistice during the solemn holy days

Recent Examples on the Web

At the Washington summit, NATO leaders should agree to invite Ukraine when the fighting has effectively ended, either through an unlikely Ukrainian victory or through a durable cease-fire or armistice. —Ivo Daalder, Foreign Affairs, 26 Mar. 2024

On the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of 1918, a cease fire (or armistice) went into effect between the Allied nations and Germany, signaling the unofficial end of World War I. Are banks open on Veterans Day? —Bychris Morris, Fortune, 10 Nov. 2023

He was incensed by the armistice, which German officials signed on November 11, 1918, and later by the Treaty of Versailles, which blamed Germany for the war and forced it to pay billions of dollars in reparations, plunging the country into a financial crisis. —Ellen Wexler, Smithsonian Magazine, 8 Nov. 2023

Chinese and Soviet backing helped North Korea fight South Korea and its allies to a draw, leading to an armistice agreement in 1953, but subsequent decades of poverty and international pariah status can hardly be considered a victory for Pyongyang. —Oriana Skylar Mastro, Foreign Affairs, 19 Feb. 2024

The 1950-1953 Korean War was one of the first international conflicts of the Cold War era. ICBMs at military parade Putin’s speech came as Pyongyang held a large military parade featuring two models of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) as part of its armistice commemorations. —Gawon Bae, CNN, 28 July 2023

The two sides have been cut off from each other since 1953, when an armistice ended the Korean War, and remain technically at war. —Simone McCarthy, CNN, 15 Feb. 2024

North and South Korea have technically remained at war since 1953, when an armistice ended the 3-year-long Korean War. —Stella Kim, NBC News, 20 Jan. 2024

Once the armistice had gone into effect, Pierre Laval, an ambitious politician who had become Pétain’s point man, helped to organize a change of regime. —Robert O. Paxton, Harper's Magazine, 17 Dec. 2023

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from New Latin armistitium, from Latin arma "implements of war, weapons" + -stit-, -stes (going back to *-sta-t-s, root noun derivative from Indo-European *steh₂- the base of Latin sistere "to make stand, halt, bring to a standstill," stāre "to stand") + -ium, suffix of compounded nouns — more at arm entry 3, stand entry 1

Note: The Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources records armistitium from medieval Scottish documents preserved in England (Rotuli Scotiae in Turri Londensi et in Domo Capitulari Westmonasteriensi asservati, vol. 1, London, 1814, p. 335). However, the word occurs only in the text of a heading summarizing the contents of a letter written in April, 1335. These headings were presumably composed when the documents were collected for publication and do not reflect medieval usage of armistitium. Printed records of the word are in abundance only after 1610, when it appears in the dedicatory preface to Biblical commentaries by the French Jesuit Nicolaus Serarius (In sacros divinorum bibliorum libros, Tobiam, Iudith, Esther et Machabaeos commentarius, Mainz, 1610), though there is no reason to believe Serarius coined it. The model for the coinage may have been Latin solstitium solstice.

First Known Use

1677, in the meaning defined above

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Kids Definition

armistice

noun

ar·​mi·​stice ˈär-mə-stəs 

: a pause in fighting brought about by agreement between the two sides