armement

Forms

armement m (plural armements)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from French armer + -ment.^[1][2][3][4] The verb is from Latin armō (“to equip a ship, to arm”).^[5] Littré derived the noun instead from Late Latin armamentum.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Grand Larousse dates it to the 13th century, in the Geste des Chiprois;^[7] Rey's first record (1310) is a naval one, the fitting out of a ship and the trade of a shipowner, the oldest sense of the noun.^[4] The Middle French dictionary gives this sense, the equipping of a ship for an expedition.^[8]

Semantic evolution

Of the verb's senses the noun kept two main ones.^[4] In the navy it named the arms and war equipment of a ship (1525); on land it came to mean, in the singular, the preparation for war (1630) and then the whole set of weapons (1636), anticipated by armement de teste “helmet” in 1483.^[4] The plural now denotes a country's means of attack and defence, as in course aux armements “arms race”.^[3][7]

In the 19th and 20th centuries technical senses appeared for the act of arming in general, such as cocking a pistol (1879) or arming a rocket (1930), and figurative uses in music, mining, electricity and fishing, where it means equipment.^[4]

Timeline

• 13th century – Recorded in the Geste des Chiprois.^[7]
• 1310 – The naval sense, fitting out a ship.^[4]
• 1483 – Armement de teste “helmet”.^[4]
• 1525 – The arms and equipment of a warship.^[4]
• 1630 – Preparations for war.^[4]
• 1636 – The whole set of weapons.^[4]
• 1879 – Used for cocking a pistol.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. The act of arming, providing with weapons.^[3][9][6]
2. The weapons and equipment of a soldier, unit or place: l’armement d’une forteresse.^[3][6]
3. The firepower of a warship, tank or aircraft.^[3][7]
4. (in the plural) A country's war preparations and weapons: la course aux armements.^[3][7]
5. The technology of weapons: ingénieur de l’armement.^[3]
6. (nautical) The fitting out of a ship with all it needs to sail.^[3][1][6]
7. (nautical) A shipping company, the trade of a shipowner.^[1][4]
8. The cocking of a firearm.^[4]

Related words

• armer
• arme
• désarmement
• armateur

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ 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 c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
8. ^ Dictionnaire du Moyen Français, version 2015 (DMF 2015), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/dmf
9. ^ 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