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armada

Etymology and origin of the English word armada

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Formation
Borrowing
Borrowed from
Spanish armada

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ɑːˈmɑːdə/ (UK); /ɑɹˈmɑdə/ (US)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Spanish armada (“armed force, fleet”),[2][3][4][5][6] from Medieval Latin armata (“armed force, fleet”),[2][3][4][5] from Latin armāta, a form of armātus “armed”, past participle of armāre “to arm”.[5][6] It is related to army.[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

A fleet of warships (1533).[7][3][5]

Semantic evolution

The word first appeared in the misspelled form armado, gradually corrected to armada in the 1600s;[3][7] Etymonline dates the current form to the 1590s.[4] The fleet sent by Philip II of Spain against England in 1588 was called the Spanish Armada by 1613 and the Invincible Armada by 1632.[4] The word was also used for a single large warship, a sense now obsolete.[7] It is now applied to any large group of moving things, such as vehicles or aircraft.[2][5][6]

Timeline

  • 1533 – armado, a fleet of warships.[7][3][5]
  • 1586 – a single large warship, now obsolete.[7]
  • 1599 – the spelling armada (OED).[7]
  • 1613 – Spanish Armada.[4]
  • 1632 – Invincible Armada.[4]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A fleet of warships.
  2. A large group of moving things, such as boats, vehicles or aircraft.

Proper noun

  1. The Spanish Armada, sent by Philip II against England in 1588.
  • army
  • arm
  • armament
  • armadillo

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  3. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ a b c Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
  7. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Armada.” Etymologically, 15 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/armada. Accessed 15 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·