Where does “disarmament” come from?
Disarmament comes from Middle English desarmen, from Old French -ment suffix and Latin dis- meaning apart plus arma meaning weapons, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European h₂er-.
disarmament (English): The reduction or the abolition of the military...
Definitions
- The reduction or the abolition of the military...
Ancestry of “disarmament”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | disarm | To deprive of weapons; to deprive of the means of... |
| 2 | Middle English | desarmen | to divest of arms |
| 3 | Anglo-Norman | desarmer | to disarm |
| 4 | Old French | armer | to arm |
| 5 | Latin | armō | to furnish with weapons, arm, equip; fit out; mobilize |
| 6 | Latin | arma | defensive arms, armor/armour, shields, weapons of... |
| 7 | Late Latin | armistitium | — |
| 8 | Latin | sistere | second-person singular future passive indicative... |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | stísteh₂ti | to be standing up, to be getting up |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | steh₂- | to stand |