A large body of people organized and trained for land warfare.
often Army The entire military land forces of a country.
A tactical and administrative military unit consisting of a headquarters, two or more corps, and auxiliary forces.
A large group of people organized for a specific cause: the construction army that built the Panama Canal.
A multitude; a host: An army of waiters served at the banquet. See Synonyms at multitude.
[Middle English armee, from Old French, from Medieval Latin armāta, from Latin, feminine past participle of armāre, to arm, from arma, arms; see ar- in Indo-European roots.]
c.1386, from O.Fr. armée, from M.L. armata "armed force," from L. armata, fem. of armatus, pp. of armare "to arm," lit. "act of arming," related to arma "tools, arms," from PIE *ar- "to fit together." Originally used of expeditions on sea or land; the specific meaning "land force" first recorded 1786. The O.E. words were here (still preserved in derivatives like harrier), from PIE *kor- "people, crowd;" and fierd, with an original sense of "expedition," from faran "travel." In spite of etymology, in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, here generally meant "invading Vikings" and fierd was used for the local militias raised to fight them.
Ar*ma"da\ ([aum]r*m[=a]"d[.a] or [aum]r*m[aum]"d[.a]), n. [Sp. armada, L. as if armata (sc. classic fleet), fr. armatus, p. p. of armare. See Arm, v. t. Army.] A fleet of armed ships; a squadron. Specifically, the Spanish fleet which was sent to assail England, a. d. 1558.
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