Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “armed” come from?

Armed derives from Middle English -ed, Old English -od, Proto-Germanic armaz, Latin arma meaning weapons or tools, and ultimately Proto-Indo-European h₂er-.

armed (English): Equipped, especially with a weapon; Prepared for...

Definitions

  1. Equipped, especially with a weapon; Prepared for...

Ancestry of “armed”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishArmAbbreviation of Armenian
2Middle Englisharmarm; poor; miserable, wretched
3Old Englishearmarm; poor, miserable
4Proto-West Germanicarmarm; poor, miserable; pitiful, pitiable
5Proto-Germanicarmazarm; poor, miserable; pitiful, pitiable
6Proto-Indo-Europeanh₂ermos—
7Proto-Indo-Europeanh₂er-to fit, to fix, to put together

Words derived from “armed”

  • unarmed
  • multiarmed
  • nonarmed
  • biarmed
  • armedness
  • unarmedness
  • one-armed
  • two-armed
Every word from Proto-Indo-European h₂er- →