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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.
Examples of armada in a Sentence
Chadner Navarro, Condé Nast Traveler, 8 Apr. 2024
The American air armada was attacked that day by German ME-262 aircraft — the world’s first jet fighters.
—Kerry J. Byrne Fox News, Fox News, 3 Feb. 2023
That role solidified itself that 2021-22 season when Taylor brought in an armada of offensive players, led by eventual Big West Tournament MVP E.J. Anosike.
—Brian Robin, Orange County Register, 23 Mar. 2024
On February 19, Canada announced the addition of a new drone to the Ukrainian armada – the SkyRanger R70.
—Vikram Mittal, Forbes, 25 Feb. 2024
Alongside an armada of watertoys, the beach club with openings on three sides and transom Z lift for easy access to the water, rounds off the argument as to why size, on occasion, does matter.
—Julia Zaltzman, Robb Report, 26 Jan. 2024
And in recent years, the agency has reconfigured its nationwide network of mail-sorting plants, purchased an armada of eco-friendly delivery trucks and pressed a marketing campaign in service of that goal.
—Jacob Bogage, Washington Post, 28 Nov. 2023
The soup also stands up to the bold flavors of the banchan, which arrive in a Trojan armada of pickled delights.
—Linda Zavoral, The Mercury News, 15 Jan. 2024
The last of an armada of floating jails used by New York City in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the Vernon C. Bain sits across the river from Rikers Island, between a wastewater treatment plant and a wholesale fish market.
—Jake Offenhartz, The Christian Science Monitor, 31 Oct. 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'armada.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
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
1550, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Dictionary Entries Near armada
Cite this Entry
“Armada.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/armada. Accessed 16 Apr. 2024.
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More from Merriam-Webster on armada
Nglish: Translation of armada for Spanish Speakers
Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about armada
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