armer

Forms

armer^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French armer, inherited from Latin armō (“to equip with weapons, fit out (a ship)”),^[2][3][1][4] a verb derived from arma (“weapons”).^[5] Rey describes the French verb as taken over from Latin at a very early date (980), and notes that in Latin it already meant arming a man, fitting out a vessel, fortifying a place and, more generally, supplying or furnishing.^[5] The verb is recorded in French earlier than the noun arme.^[5]

Cognate with Italian armare, Romanian arma, Occitan armar, Catalan armar, Spanish armar and Portuguese armar.^[6][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its oldest sense is to provide someone with weapons, above all with defensive arms and armour, as in the Chanson de Roland (about 1080), where the participle armez describes men in arms.^[5][7][8] Fitting out a ship for sailing is found very early as well, in 1118.^[5]

Semantic evolution

In Old French the reflexive soi armer was the usual way of saying “to put on one's armour”, and by extension “to get ready for a fight”; it could also mean to cross oneself, arming oneself with the sign of the cross against the devil.^[5] In Middle French s'armer could also mean to become a knight.^[5] The figurative uses, arming someone with virtues or powers (1495) or against something (16th century, Montaigne), became common in the classical language, when armer also came to mean to rouse a people or a country to war (1667, Racine).^[5]

Technical senses followed: arming a town or a fort (1669), a cannon (1691), and cocking a firearm by setting its spring (1752).^[5] From the general idea of “furnishing, strengthening” (1532) come armer un aimant (1668) and, in the 20th century, the reinforcing of concrete and of mine shafts.^[5][9] In music it has meant to mark the key with the right sharps or flats since 1768.^[5] The verb's naval sense lies behind armement and the borrowing armateur “shipowner”.^[5]

Timeline

• 980 – First record of the verb.^[3][9][5]
• 1080 – Armez “armed men” appears in the Chanson de Roland.^[8][7]
• 1118 – Used for fitting out a ship.^[5]
• 1170 – Soi armer “to put on one's armour” is recorded.^[5]
• 1495 – Armer de is used of virtues and powers.^[5]
• 1667 – Racine uses it for rousing a people to war.^[5]
• 1669 – First record of armer a town or fort.^[5]
• 1752 – First used for cocking a firearm.^[5]
• 1768 – Musical sense of marking the key signature.^[5]

Meanings

Verb

1. To provide with weapons or military equipment: armer des volontaires.^[9][10]
2. (historical) Armer quelqu'un chevalier: to dub someone a knight, handing him his arms.^[9][8][11]
3. To put a country or troops on a war footing, to fortify a place: armer une place.^[9][8]
4. (figurative) Armer de: to give someone something as a means of attack or defence, armer contre: to set someone against another.^[9]
5. To fit with a weapon or a strengthening device, to reinforce: armer le béton.^[9]
6. (nautical) To fit out a ship for going to sea.^[9][5]
7. To cock a firearm, to set the spring of a mechanism: armer un fusil, also a camera's shutter.^[9][5]
8. S'armer: to arm oneself, (figurative) to summon up a quality: s'armer de patience.^[9]

Word family

• armée
• armement
• désarmer
• désarmement
• réarmer
• réarmement

Related words

• arme
• armure
• armateur
• Latin armō

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
3. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 25, 245b
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
7. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
11. ^ 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