panoply
noun
S. P. B. MaisLewis MumfordWilliam Baucke
Did you know?
Despite having Greek origins and similar sounds, panoply is not related—etymologically or semantically—to monopoly; its history has more to do with Mediterranean warfare than Mediterranean Avenue. Panoply comes from the Greek word panoplia, which referred to the full suit of armor worn by hoplites, heavily armed infantry soldiers of ancient Greece. Panoplia is a blend of the prefix pan-, meaning “all,” and hopla, meaning “arms” or “armor.” (As you may have guessed, hopla is also an ancestor of hoplite.) Panoply entered English in the early 17th century with its Greek use intact: it referred to a full set of armor—an impressive array, you might say, of protective bits and bobs, from breastplates to brassards. Over time, panoply developed its figurative sense referring to an impressive, extensive collection or array of things, as in “She won the game by bankrupting her opponents with a panoply of properties built up with houses and hotels.”
Examples of panoply in a Sentence
James Marcus, New Yorker, 3 Nov. 2025
Outdoors, the ear quickly learns to differentiate the panoply of nature’s noises.
—Justin Davidson, Vulture, 1 Oct. 2025
That’s like having the panoply of responses and not just one path for dealing with your trauma.
—William Earl, Variety, 25 Sep. 2025
Over time birds evolved a panoply of skeletal and soft-tissue features that improved their flight capabilities.
—Kate Wong, Scientific American, 16 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for panoply
Cite this Entry
“Panoply.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/panoply. Accessed 6 Nov. 2025.
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panoply
noun
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