Etymologically
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ammunition

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 17 October 2026 at 15:13. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˌæm.jəˈnɪʃ.ən/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Middle French amunition, also amonition,[2][3][4][5] from a mistaken division of la munition, the munitions, as if it were l'amunition, perhaps influenced by the French word for a warning.[2][3][4][6][7][5] The French word is from Latin mūnītiō (“a fortifying”) (see munition).[3] French later corrected the error, but English kept it, with a double m to match Latin words.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Military stores or supplies of all kinds: 1607 in Merriam-Webster, before 1626, in Francis Bacon, in Barnhart and the OED.[5][2][8]

Semantic evolution

The verb, to supply with ammunition, is from 1644, and figurative uses from 1645.[8] Ammunition boots and bread, supplied to soldiers, are from before 1658.[8] In modern use the word means only material fired from weapons.[3][4]

Timeline

  • 1607 – ammunition.[5]
  • before 1626 – military stores.[2][8]
  • 1644 – to ammunition (verb).[8]
  • 1645 – figurative ammunition.[8]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. Projectiles, such as bullets and shells, with their fuses and primers, that can be fired from weapons.
  2. Bombs, missiles and chemical, biological or nuclear materials used as weapons.
  3. Anything used in attack or defence, as in an argument.

Word family

  • ammo
  • munition
  • munitions
  • muniment

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press