armada

noun

ar·​ma·​da är-ˈmä-də  -ˈmā- 

 also  -ˈma-

1

: a fleet of warships

2

: a large force or group usually of moving things

Did you know?

A Spanish word that originally meant simply "armed", armada is now used in Spanish-speaking nations as the name of their national navies. In English, the word usually has historical overtones. The Great Armada of 1588 was a 120-ship fleet sent by Philip II of Spain in an attempt to invade Elizabethan England; it was defeated when British forces lit eight ships afire and sent them sailing into the Armada's midst, then blocked the passage to the south so that the remaining ships were forced to sail northward around Britain in order to return home, causing dozens more ships to be wrecked in the stormy northern seas. Today we sometimes use the word humorously for fleets of fishing boats, rowboats, or canoes.

Synonyms

• caravan
• cavalcade
• fleet
• line
• motorcade
• train

Examples of armada in a Sentence

an armada of fishing boats

an armada of ships sailing up the coast

Recent Examples on the Web

The Chinese military is massing troops in Fujian Province and an armada offshore, just across the strait from Taiwan. —Michael Brown, Foreign Affairs, 22 Apr. 2025

Retired Marine Gerry Berry was a helicopter pilot aboard the armada of American ships off the coast. —David Martin, CBS News, 28 Apr. 2025

The joy of being in the friendliest of armadas certainly was infectious. —Elisabeth Vincentelli, New York Times, 14 Apr. 2025

Yet the size of the Kremlin’s ICBM armada is many times larger, say the worldwide nuclear weapons monitors at the Federation of American Scientists. —Kevin Holden Platt, Forbes, 19 Feb. 2025

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Spanish, "military force, fleet of warships," from armar "to arm, equip" (going back to Latin armāre) + -ada, suffix of action or result (going back to Vulgar Latin *-āta, noun derivative from feminine of Latin -ātus, past participle ending of Latin first-conjugation verbs) — more at arm entry 2

First Known Use

1550, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for armada

• entrada
• espada
• hamada
• jornada
• kannada
• posada
• quebrada
• ramada
• sagrada
• arthropoda
• intifada
• theravada

Kids Definition

armada

noun

ar·​ma·​da är-ˈmäd-ə  -ˈmād- 

1

: a large fleet of warships

2

: a large force or group of usually moving things

an armada of fishing boats

Etymology

from Spanish armada "fleet," derived from Latin arma "weapons"