Etymologically
Log in

armée

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 18 October 2026 at 14:02. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /aʁ.me/[1]

Forms

armée f (plural armées)[1]

Etymology

It is the feminine past participle of armer used as a noun, short for “troupe armée”.[2][3][4][5] Wiktionary traces it through Anglo-Norman, where it is earlier, to Medieval Latin armāta (“armed force”), the participle of Latin armō (“to arm”), from arma (“arms”).[1][6] The same Latin participle gave Italian armata and Spanish armada, the source of French armada.[6][1]

Between the 14th and the 16th century it replaced Old French ost, from Latin hostis (“enemy”), which in the 6th century had come to mean the enemy army and then any army.[2][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Guillaume de Machaut (1360): toute l'armée que l'eglise avoit ordenée, of a crusading force.[2][3][6]

Semantic evolution

By the 15th century it named both land forces and fleets: Froissart writes of the duke of Burgundy raising son armée in Picardy, and in the 16th century Barbarossa reaches Marseille avec son armée of 112 galleys.[6] Ost survived from the 16th century only as a literary word, and in Picardy and Maine as o “herd”.[5] Modern French distinguishes une armée, a large unit or a force assembled for a campaign, from l'armée, the whole military force of a state, armée de terre, de mer and de l'air are its branches.[3][4] Figuratively it is a host of people united in a cause, as the Armée du Salut.[3]

Timeline

  • 1360 – First record, Guillaume de Machaut.[2]
  • 14th–16th century – It replaces ost.[2][5]
  • 1812 – The Grande Armée of Napoleon.[7]

Meanings

Noun

  1. An army, a large body of troops: lever une armée, armée d'occupation.[4][8]
  2. L'armée: the armed forces of a state: être dans l'armée, armée de terre, de l'air.[1][3]
  3. A large unit made up of several army corps: corps d'armée.[7][3]
  4. (figurative) A host, crowd: une armée de fourmis, l'Armée du Salut, the Salvation Army.[3]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  4. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  6. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  7. ^ a b Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  8. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)