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

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

What advantage does rocket armament gives over other weapons? —David Hambling, Forbes, 25 Sep. 2024

In the course of the war, a lot of factories had been reoriented to produce armaments, which meant consumer goods were in short supply. —John Cassidy, The New Yorker, 16 Sep. 2024

To achieve these difficult tasks, Israel must dismantle Hamas’s army units and governing bodies; destroy its armaments, production sites, tunnels, and command posts; and degrade Hamas’s fighting force. —Assaf Orion, Foreign Affairs, 12 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