Where does “unarmed” come from?
Unarmed comes from English armed, which derives from Latin arma, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European h₂er-, a root meaning to fit or join together.
unarmed (English): Defenceless and lacking weapons or armour; Not...
Definitions
- Defenceless and lacking weapons or armour; Not...
Ancestry of “unarmed”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | armed | Equipped, especially with a weapon; Prepared for... |
| 2 | English | Arm | Abbreviation of Armenian |
| 3 | Middle English | arm | arm; poor; miserable, wretched |
| 4 | Old English | earm | arm; poor, miserable |
| 5 | Proto-West Germanic | arm | arm; poor, miserable; pitiful, pitiable |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | armaz | arm; poor, miserable; pitiful, pitiable |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | h₂ermos | — |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | h₂er- | to fit, to fix, to put together |