armor
pronunciation
How to pronounce armor in British English:
UK [ˈɑːmə]
How to pronounce armor in American English:
US [ˈɑrmər]
-
- Noun:
- protective covering made of metal and used in combat
- a military unit consisting of armored fighting vehicles
- tough more-or-less rigid protective covering of an animal or plant
-
- Verb:
- equip with armor
Word Origin
- armor (n.)
- c. 1300, "mail, defensive covering worn in combat," also "means of protection," from Old French armeure "weapons, armor" (12c.), from Latin armatura "arms, equipment," from arma "arms, gear" (see arm (n.2)). Figurative use from mid-14c. Meaning "military equipment generally," especially siege engines, is late 14c. The word might have died with jousting if not for late 19c. transference to metal-shielded machinery beginning with U.S. Civil War ironclads (first attested in this sense in an 1855 report from the U.S. Congressional Committee on Naval Affairs).
- armor (v.)
- mid-15c., from armor (n.). Related: Armored; armoring.
Example
- 1. Sea urchins are perhaps best known for their armor of spines .
- 2. But katayev 's papers suggest the soviet knight was indeed dying inside his armor .
- 3. Just as ron started moaning that his feet were dead with cold , harry spotted the suit of armor .
- 4. She has read mills and boons all her life and knows that a night in shining armor awaits her .
- 5. Our armor will rust , our spirits will wilt , and our souls will fade until we are unrecognizable .