armata

Forms

armata f (plural armate)^[1]

Etymology

It is from Italian armare (“to arm; to fit out”): the feminine of its past participle, used as a noun.^[2][3][4][5] GRADIT derives it from the participle armato and compares Medieval Latin armata, which the DEI finds in documents from the 10th century on, where it replaced hostis (“army”).^[6][7] The LEI treats it as the continuation of the verbal noun Latin armātus (“armour; armed men”) in its feminine form in -ata, as with chiamata.^[8]

The same participle gave French armée (“army”), Old Occitan armada, Spanish armada (“fleet”) and Friulian armade.^[9][10][8] In many Romance languages it took the place of exercitus (“army”), as Körting notes.^[10] The verb continues armō (“to arm”), from arma (“weapons”).^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is Bono Giamboni's Florentine translation of Orosius (before 1292), for a military expedition force by land or sea.^[3] The DEI dates the naval sense to the 13th century and the land army to the 14th.^[7]

Semantic evolution

Old Italian used armata for a fleet of war, an army and an expedition: fare armata was to fit one out, and gridare l'armata to proclaim a war.^[3] Dino Compagni (1312) uses it for the land forces of a state, and Giovanni Villani writes of an armata di settanta galee setting out from Naples.^[8][11][12] Old Venetian armada passed into Modern Greek.^[7]

The modern technical sense, a large unit made up of army corps, dates from 1812 and follows French armée.^[7][12] The best-known fleet is the Invincibile Armata of Philip II, destroyed in 1588.^[4][5] Aviation brought the armata aerea, and Mario Monicelli's 1966 film gave the jocular armata Brancaleone for a motley, bungling band.^[5][13] Romanian armată is borrowed from Italian.^[1]

Timeline

• Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses armata for a military expedition force.^[3]
• 1312 – Dino Compagni uses it for the land army of a state.^[8][11]
• Before 1348 – Giovanni Villani uses it for a fleet and an army.^[14][12]
• 1812 – The modern sense of a large army unit appears, after French armée.^[7]
• 1966 – Monicelli's film gives armata Brancaleone.^[13]

Meanings

Noun

1. (military) An army: a large unit of several army corps under one commander, with its own logistics: la seconda armata.^[13][15][5]
2. By extension, an army, the land forces of a state: Le armate del re avanzavano verso nord.^[6][4][16]
3. (nautical) A naval force of several squadrons under one command; a fleet: l'Invincibile Armata.^[6][4][5]
4. (aeronautics) In armata aerea, the air force of a state; also the largest air unit, of two or more divisions.^[4][5][15]
5. (figurative, jocular) In armata Brancaleone, a motley, bungling band of people.^[13][15]

Related words

• esercito
• armare
• armato
• arma
• flotta
• French armée
• Spanish armada

Usage notes

Armata is also the feminine of the adjective and participle armato.^[16] Common phrases are corpo d'armata, an army corps, and generale di corpo d'armata.^[6][13] In Masuccio, Old Neapolitan armata means a commotion of armed men.^[12][8]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
3. ^ a b c d Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
4. ^ a b c d e Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b c d e f Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
6. ^ a b c d De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
7. ^ a b c d e Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 292
8. ^ a b c d e Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 3, 1288
9. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
10. ^ a b Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
11. ^ a b Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
12. ^ a b c d Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
13. ^ a b c d e Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
14. ^ Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
15. ^ a b c Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
16. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse