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

For 35 years Brazilian political elites have viewed nuclear armament as both unnecessary and counterproductive, given Brazil’s peaceful foreign policy, emphasis on multilateralism, and the Tlatelolco Treaty making Latin America a nuclear-weapons-free zone. —Oliver Stuenkel, Time, 9 Jan. 2026

Trump recently announced a multibillion-dollar deal to send to Taiwan a massive armament package, including high-mobility artillery rocket systems, howitzers and drones. —Chicago Tribune, 6 Jan. 2026

The ship – which had no armament or gun – would navigate a narrow channel through a huge minefield and dodge air attacks on its voyage south. —Gawon Bae, CNN Money, 25 Dec. 2025

China’s new underwater drone toys The drones are likely intended to be armed with conventional submarine armaments like mines and torpedoes, but could also act as motherships for other drones, too. —Christopher McFadden, Interesting Engineering, 14 Dec. 2025

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

Rhymes for armament

• disarmament
• rearmament

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