arma

Forms

arma f (plural armas)^[1] Houaiss records the spelling armaas in the 15th century.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin arma (“arms, weapons”), written Old Galician-Portuguese arma in the oldest texts.^[2][3][1] In classical Latin the word was a neuter plural, and, as happened with other such plurals, it was taken for a feminine singular.^[4][5] The DCECH finds the Late Latin feminine, from about 570, in the Antonine Itinerary.^[6]

The same Latin word is Galician arma, Spanish arma, Catalan arma, French arme, Italian arma and Romanian armă.^[7][1] The REW notes that in most of these languages the plural also means “coat of arms”.^[7] The cry Italian all'arme (“to arms!”) passed through French alarme into Portuguese as alarme.^[8][7]

The Latin word goes back to *armo- and Proto-Indo-European *h₂(e)rmos (“fitting”), from the root *h₂er- (“to join”).^[9][1] Its cognates include Sanskrit ऋत (ṛtá, “order, right”) and Ancient Greek ἀραρίσκω (ararískō, “to fit together”), and Wiktionary traces the sense from “what is fitted together” to “tools” and then “weapons”.^[1][10] The DHLF reports a different view, that the Latin word came, perhaps through the verb armō (“to arm”), from armus (“upper arm, shoulder”).^[11]

Earliest recorded meaning

Latin charters of Portugal already use arma: Lorenzo quotes a law of 1124, qui apprehenderit arma aliqua cum ferro “whoever seizes any weapon with iron in it”, and Machado gives 1152 from the Leges.^[12][4] Cunha dates the Portuguese word to the 13th century.^[3] The Cantigas de Santa Maria have Non foi quen podesse arma nen escudo / tẽer “there was none who could hold a weapon or a shield”, and phrases such as ome d'armas “soldier” and cavaleiro de gran prez d'armas “a knight of great renown in arms”.^[12]

Semantic evolution

In the medieval texts the word is mostly plural, for weapons and armour together and for deeds of war: the Crónica Geral speaks of those fit for arms and of men strong in their arms, and the Crónica Troiana of armour no weapon could pierce.^[12] Bluteau still noted in 1712 that the plural was commoner than the singular.^[13] Morais (1813) adds armas brancas and the figurative weapons of the Church, its exhortations and excommunications.^[14]

Later senses are the branch of an army (infantry, cavalry, artillery), any means used to win an argument or a contest, and, in the plural, the armed forces, the military career, an animal's horns and the bearings of a coat of arms.^[2][15]

Timeline

• 1124 – a Latin law in the Portugaliae Monumenta Historica has arma aliqua cum ferro.^[12]
• 1152 – Machado's first record, also in a Latin text of the Leges.^[4]
• 13th century – the Portuguese word, in Cunha's dating; the Cantigas de Santa Maria use arma and armas.^[3][12]
• c. 1430 – arma in the Horto do Esposo.^[16]
• 1562 – Cardoso's dictionary glosses arma with Latin arma, armorum.^[17]
• 1712 – Bluteau lists arma de arremeço and arma de fogo and notes that the plural is more used.^[13]
• 1871 – Vieira describes the division of arms into offensive and defensive.^[18]
• 1899 – Figueiredo records the plural for an animal's horns and for marks of nobility.^[15]

Meanings

Noun

1. A weapon: any instrument or device made or used for attack or defence.^[2][19][1]
2. Anything used to gain an advantage over an opponent, especially an argument in a debate; a means or resource.^[2][19][20]
3. (military) Each branch of an army, such as the infantry, cavalry or artillery; each of the armed forces (army, navy, air force).^[2][19]
4. A natural means of defence of an animal, such as claws, horns or teeth.^[20][19]
5. (in the plural) The armed forces of a country; the military career.^[2]
6. (in the plural) Feats of arms, military enterprises.^[2]
7. (in the plural) The horns of an animal.^[2][15]
8. (heraldry, in the plural) The bearings of a coat of arms.^[2][20]

Related words

• armar
• armário
• armada
• armadura
• alarme
• Latin arma

Usage notes

Common compounds are arma branca “a blade weapon” and arma de fogo “firearm”.^[2][19] Bluteau records the proverb a arma e o alguidar não se hão de emprestar “a weapon and a basin are not to be lent”.^[13]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. arma
3. ^ a b c Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. arma
4. ^ a b c Machado, José Pedro (1987), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., 5 vols., Lisboa: Livros Horizonte, p. s.v. arma
5. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. arma
6. ^ Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 1, 337
7. ^ a b c Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 650
8. ^ Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. alarme
9. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill, p. s.v. arma
10. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. arma
11. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. arme
12. ^ a b c d e Instituto da Lingua Galega, Dicionario de dicionarios do galego medieval (DDGM), ed. Ernesto González Seoane, Santiago de Compostela: Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, https://ilg.usc.gal/ddgm, p. s.v. arma
13. ^ a b c Bluteau, Raphael (1712–1728), Vocabulario portuguez e latino, 8 vols. + 2 supplement vols., Coimbra / Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. arma
14. ^ Silva, António de Morais (1813), Diccionario da lingua portugueza, 2nd ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Typographia Lacerdina, p. 1, 179
15. ^ a b c Figueiredo, Cândido de (1899), Novo diccionário da língua portuguesa, 1st ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Tavares Cardoso & Irmão, p. 126
16. ^ Centro de Linguística da Universidade de Lisboa, CTA – Corpus de Textos Antigos, https://teitok.clul.ul.pt/cta, p. s.v. arma
17. ^ Cardoso, Jerónimo (1562), Dictionarium juventuti studiosae admodum frugiferum, Coimbra: João Álvares (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. arma
18. ^ Vieira, Frei Domingos (1871–1874), Grande Diccionario Portuguez ou Thesouro da lingua portugueza, 5 vols., Porto: Ernesto Chardron e Bartholomeu H. de Moraes, p. 1, 554
19. ^ a b c d e Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. arma
20. ^ a b c Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 900