arma

Forms

arma f (plural armes)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Late Latin arma (“weapon”), a feminine singular made from the classical neuter plural arma (“arms, weapons”), genitive ⟨armorum⟩.^[2][3][1] Corominas finds the Latin word used as a feminine singular, with the genitive ⟨armae⟩, from about 570, in the Itinerarium Antonini.^[4]

The same Latin word is Italian arma, French arme, Occitan arma, Spanish arma, Portuguese arma and Romanian armă; in most of these languages the plural also means a coat of arms.^[5]

De Vaan reconstructs Proto-Italic *armo- and takes it back to a Proto-Indo-European adjective meaning “fitting”, from which also comes armentum (“herd of cattle”).^[6] Wiktionary gives it as *h₂(e)rmos, from the root *h₂er- (“to join”).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Coromines dates the word to the beginnings of the language: phrases half in Latin such as cavallum cum suas armas “a horse with its arms” appear from 981, and a Templar document of 1181 exempts los frares d'armes, the brothers-at-arms.^[2][7] The meaning from the start is weapons, and especially the arms and armour of a knight.^[2]

Semantic evolution

In Llull and in the chronicle of Jaume I the word is very frequent, in the plural above all: fets d'armes “feats of arms” is the title of Jaume I's chronicle, and the cry a armes! calls men to fight.^[2] The plural also stood for warfare and the profession of arms, and for the heraldic arms of a family or a nation.^[7][8] Eiximenis uses grans armes for daring or boldness in 1381.^[9]

From the noun came armar, first in Muntaner, and its participle armat in Llull;^[2][10] armadura is recorded in 1278 and armament in Jaume I.^[2][10] Armada “fleet” is frequent from the 13th century, in the Consolat de mar and Muntaner.^[2] Armer “armourer” is recorded about 1390.^[2] The modern dictionaries add the arms of animals (teeth, claws, horns), the branches of an army, and the figurative sense of any means used to win.^[8][3]

Timeline

• 981 – cum suas armas in a Latin document.^[2]
• 1181 – frares d'armes in a document of the Templars.^[2][7]
• 1175–1224 – arma in the Homilies d'Organyà.^[11]
• 1278 – armadura in a document.^[2][10]
• 1381 – Eiximenis uses armes for boldness.^[9]
• 1460 – the Spill of Jaume Roig has armer.^[2]
• 1575 – Onofre Pou glosses la sala d'armes with Latin armamentarium.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A weapon, an instrument made to attack or defend oneself: arma blanca, arma de foc.^[8][3]
2. Anything used to attack or defend oneself: Es va defensar amb el paraigua com a arma.^[8][3]
3. (figurative) A means of winning or getting something: La paciència és la seva millor arma.^[8][7]
4. (military) A branch of an army, such as the infantry or the artillery.^[8]
5. (in the plural) The military profession; warfare: company d'armes.^[8][7]
6. (heraldry, in the plural) A coat of arms of a family, city or nation.^[8][7]

Word family

• armar
• armada
• armadura
• armament
• armat
• armer
• desarmar
• armador

Related words

• armari
• alarma
• Latin arma

Usage notes

The DCVB has a separate word arma “soul”, from Latin anima, probably through Occitan.^[7] It is the usual form in Llull, who speaks of the blessed being en arma e en cors “in soul and in body”, and it is still found in the 15th-century Cançoner de Saragossa; the Furs of Valencia have segons arma “in conscience”.^[12][9]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Coromines, Joan (1980–2001), Diccionari etimològic i complementari de la llengua catalana, 10 vols., Barcelona: Curial / La Caixa (online ed., Institut d'Estudis Catalans 2024), p. 1, 390
3. ^ a b c d Enciclopèdia Catalana, Gran diccionari de la llengua catalana (GDLC), Barcelona: Enciclopèdia Catalana; online edition, https://www.diccionari.cat, p. s.v. arma
4. ^ Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 1, 337
5. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 650
6. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
7. ^ a b c d e f g Alcover, Antoni M.; Moll, Francesc de B. (1930–1962), Diccionari català-valencià-balear, 10 vols., Palma de Mallorca: Moll, p. s.v. arma
8. ^ a b c d e f g h Institut d'Estudis Catalans (2007), Diccionari de la llengua catalana, 2nd ed. (DIEC2), Barcelona: Edicions 62; online edition with later updates, https://dlc.iec.cat, p. s.v. arma
9. ^ a b c Faraudo de Saint-Germain, Lluís, Vocabulari de la llengua catalana medieval, online edition, Barcelona: Institut d'Estudis Catalans, p. s.v. arma
10. ^ a b c Bruguera, Jordi (1996), Diccionari etimològic, Barcelona: Enciclopèdia Catalana, p. 82
11. ^ Torruella, Joan; Pérez Saldanya, Manuel; Martines, Josep (dirs.), Corpus Informatitzat del Català Antic (CICA), https://www.cica.cat, p. s.v. arma
12. ^ Nou glossari general lul·lià (NGGL), Centre de Documentació Ramon Llull, Universitat de Barcelona, https://nggl.ub.edu, p. s.v. arma