army

See also: Army and ARMY

English

Etymology

From (1386) Middle English armee, borrowed from Old French armee (cf. modern French armée), from Medieval Latin armāta (“armed force”), a noun taken from the past participle of Latin armāre (“to arm”), itself related to arma (“tools, arms”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂er- (“to join, fit together”). Doublet of armada. Displaced native Old English here and fierd.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: ä'mē, IPA^(key): /ˈɑː.miː/

• Audio (UK):

  (file)

• (General American) enPR: är'mē, IPA^(key): /ˈɑɹ.mi/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• (General Australian) enPR: ä'mē, IPA^(key): /ˈɐː.mi(ː)/
• Rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)mi

Noun

army (plural armies)

1. A large, highly organized military force, concerned mainly with ground (rather than air or naval) operations.
   • 1858, Prince George, letter to Sir Colin Campbell:

     An army never can be commanded or controlled by civilians.

   The army was sent in to quell the uprising.

   1. Used absolutely for that entire branch of the armed forces.

      The army received a bigger share of this year's budget increase than the navy or air force.

   2. (often capitalized) Within a vast military, a very large tactical contingent (e.g. a number of divisions).

      The Fourth Army suffered such losses that its remainders were merged into the Second Army, also deployed on the Western front.

2. The governmental agency in charge of a state's army.

   The army opposed the legislature's involvement.

3. (figuratively) A large group of people working toward the same purpose.

   It took an army of accountants to uncover the fraud.

   On sunny days the beaches draw armies of tourists of all kinds.

   • 2021 February 2, Nathaniel Popper, Kellen Browning, Erin Griffith, “Robinhood’s C.E.O. Is in the Hot Seat”, in The New York Times‎^[1], →ISSN:

     Mr. Tenev, 33, is now in the hot seat again after Robinhood abruptly curtailed its customers’ trading last week amid a frenzy in stocks such as GameStop, which were driven sky high by an army of online investors.

4. (figuratively) A large group of social animals working toward the same purpose.

   Our house is being attacked by an army of ants.

5. (figuratively) Any multitude.

   There was an army of construction cranes working on building the skyscraper.

6. The military as a whole.

   The People's Liberation Army Navy of China.

   The Yugoslav Army consisted of the War Navy, Ground Forces, and Air Force.

   Iran's army consists of the Navy, Ground Forces, and Air Force.

Synonyms

• host
• here

Derived terms

• 50 cent army, fifty-cent army, fifty cent army
• an army marches on its stomach
• antiarmy
• armied
• army ant
• army base
• army boot, army boots
• army brat
• army crawl
• army creole
• army cutworm
• army golf
• army green
• army group
• armyless
• armylike
• armyman
• armyspeak
• army surplus
• army time
• army volunteer
• armywear
• armyworm, army-worm, army worm
• Black Army
• Black Flag Army
• Blue Army
• bonsai army
• flying army
• Fred Karno's army
• general of the army, General of the Army
• green army, Green Army
• interarmy
• keyboard army
• Lord's Resistance Army
• mud army
• nonarmy
• old army game
• one-man army
• people's army
• puppet army
• Red Army
• standing army
• Swiss Army knife
• Swiss Army penknife
• troll army
• White Army
• you and what army, you and whose army?
• you and whose army

 

Related terms

Terms related to army

• arm, arms, armed
• armament
• armor, armour

Translations

military force concerned mainly with ground operations

• Abkhaz: армия (armija), ар (ar)
• Afrikaans: leër (af), weermag (af)
• Albanian: armatë (sq) f, ushtri (sq) f
• Amharic: ሰራዊት (särawit), የጦር ኃይል (yäṭor ḫayl)
• Arabic: جَيْش m (jayš)

  Egyptian Arabic: جيش m (gēš)

  Hijazi Arabic: جيش m (jēš)

  South Levantine Arabic: جيش m (jēš)

• Aragonese: exercito m
• Armenian: բանակ (hy) (banak)
• Aromanian: ashcheri, urdhii, oaste
• Assamese: সেনা (xena)
• Asturian: exércitu m
• Avar: аскар (askar)
• Azerbaijani: ordu (az), qoşun (az), ərteş (South Azerbaijani)
• Bashkir: ғәскәр (ğəskər)
• Basque: gudaroste (eu), armada
• Belarusian: а́рмія f (ármija), во́йска n (vójska)
• Bengali: সেনা (bn) (śena), ফৌজ (bn) (phōuj), লস্কর (bn) (loskor)
• Bislama: ami
• Breton: arme (br) f, lu (br) m
• Bulgarian: а́рмия (bg) f (ármija), войска́ (bg) f (vojská)
• Burmese: စစ်တပ် (my) (cactap), တပ်မတော် (my) (tapma.tau), ကြည်းတပ် (my) (krany:tap)
• Catalan: exèrcit (ca) m, host (ca) f
• Cebuano: kasundalohan
• Central Atlas Tamazight: ⵜⴰⵙⵔⴷⴰⵙⵜ f (tasrdast)
• Chechen: эскар (eskar), арми (armi)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 陸軍／陆军 (luk⁶ gwan¹), 軍隊／军队 (gwan¹ deoi^6-2)

  Dungan: җүндуй (žünduy)

  Eastern Min: 軍隊／军队 (gŭng-dôi)

  Hakka: 陸軍／陆军 (liu̍k-kiûn), 軍隊／军队 (kiûn-chhui / kiûn-tui)

  Hokkien: 陸軍／陆军 (zh-min-nan) (lio̍k-kun), 軍隊／军队 (kun-tūi)

  Mandarin: 陸軍／陆军 (zh) (lùjūn), 軍隊／军队 (zh) (jūnduì)

  Northern Min: 軍隊／军队 (gé̤ng-dṳ̄)

  Wu: 陸軍／陆军 (⁸loq-ciun), 軍隊／军队 (¹ciun-de)

• Chuvash: ҫар (śar)
• Crimean Tatar: ordu
• Czech: armáda (cs) f, vojsko (cs) n
• Danish: hær (da) c, arme c, landstyrke c (specifically land)
• Dutch: leger (nl) n, landmacht (nl), weermacht (nl) f
• Egyptian: (mšꜥ)
• Erzya: ушмо (ušmo)
• Esperanto: armeo
• Estonian: maavägi
• Faroese: herur (fo) m
• Finnish: maavoimat (fi), armeija (fi)
• French: armée (fr) f
• Friulian: armade f, esercit
• Galician: exército (gl) m
• Ge'ez: ጸብእ (ṣäbʾ)
• Georgian: ჯარი (ǯari), არმია (armia), სახმელეთო ჯარი (saxmeleto ǯari), სახმელეთო ჯარები (saxmeleto ǯarebi), სახმელეთო ძალები (saxmeleto ʒalebi), ლაშქარი (laškari), სპა (sṗa)
• German: Heer (de) n, Landstreitkräfte (de) f pl, Armee (de) f
• Gothic: 𐌷𐌰𐍂𐌾𐌹𐍃 m (harjis)
• Greek: στρατός (el) m (stratós), στράτευμα (el) n (strátevma), στρατιά (el) f (stratiá)

  Ancient: στρατός m (stratós), στράτευμα n (stráteuma), στρατιά f (stratiá)

• Gujarati: આર્મી (ārmī), સેના f (senā)
• Gullah: aa’my
• Hebrew: צָבָא (he) m (tsavá)
• Hindi: सेना (hi) f (senā), आर्मी (hi) f (ārmī), थलसेना f (thalsenā), लश्कर m (laśkar), लशकर (hi) m (laśkar), फ़ौज f (fauj), फौज (hi) f (phauj), अस्कर (hi) m (askar), सैन्य (hi) m (sainya), थल सेना f (thal senā)
• Hungarian: hadsereg (hu)
• Icelandic: her (is) m
• Ido: armeo (io)
• Indonesian: tentara (id), angkatan darat (id)
• Ingrian: armia, voiska
• Ingush: эскар (eskar)
• Irish: arm m, armáil f (literary)
• Italian: esercito (it) m
• Japanese: 陸軍 (ja) (りくぐん, rikugun), 軍隊 (ja) (ぐんたい, guntai)
• Javanese: perjurit
• Kannada: ಸೇನೆ (kn) (sēne)
• Karachay-Balkar: аскер (asker)
• Kazakh: әскер (äsker)
• Khmer: កងទ័ព (kɑɑng tŏəp), ទ័ព (km) (tŏəp), តស្ករ (taʼskɑɑ)
• Komi-Zyrian: чукӧр (ćukör)
• Korean: 육군(陸軍) (ko) (yukgun), 륙군(陸軍) (ko) (ryukgun) (North Korea), 군대(軍隊) (ko) (gundae)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: ئۆردوو (ordû), جاش (caş)

  Northern Kurdish: artêş (ku), ordî (ku), leşker (ku)

• Kyrgyz: армия (ky) (armiya), аскер (ky) (asker)
• Lao: ກອງທັບບົກ (lo) (kǭng thap bok), ທັບ (thap), ກອງທັບ (kǭng thap), ພົນລະກາຍ (phon la kāi), ພົນລະຂັນ (phon la khan), ພົນ (phon), ແສນຍາກອນ (sǣn nyā kǭn), ໂຍທາທັບ (nyō thā thap)
• Latin: exercitus m
• Latvian: armija f, karaspēks m
• Lithuanian: armija (lt) f, kariuomenė (lt) f
• Luhya: ejeshi
• Luxembourgish: Arméi f
• Macedonian: војска f (vojska), армија f (armija)
• Malagasy: tafika (mg)
• Malay: tentera (ms), tahang (ms) (Pattani)
• Malayalam: പട്ടാളം (ml) (paṭṭāḷaṁ)
• Maltese: armata f
• Manchu: ᠴᠣᠣᡥᠠ (cooha)
• Maori: ope
• Marathi: आर्मी (ārmī), लष्कर (laṣkar), सेना (senā)
• Middle English: armee, ferde
• Middle Persian: [script needed] (gwnd /⁠gund⁠/)
• Mirandese: please add this translation if you can
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: арми (mn) (armi), цэрэг (mn) (cereg)

  Mongolian: ᠠᠷᠮᠢ (armi), ᠴᠡᠷᠢᠭ (čerig)

• Nanai: чаоха (čaoha)
• Navajo: siláo
• Nepali: सेना (ne) (senā)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: hær (no) m, armé (no) m

  Nynorsk: hær m, armé m

• Occitan: armada (oc) f
• Odia: ସେନା (senā)
• Old Church Slavonic:

  Cyrillic: воиска f (voiska)

• Old East Slavic: воиско n (voisko)
• Old English: here m, fierd f
• Old Javanese: bala
• Old Persian: 𐎿𐎱𐎠𐎭 (spādaʰ)
• Oromo: raayaa
• Ossetian: ӕфсад (æfsad), арми (armi)
• Ottoman Turkish: لشكر (leşker), عسكر (ʼasker), چری (çeri), اردو (ordu)
• Pali: yuddhasenā f, senā f
• Pannonian Rusyn: армия f (armija)
• Pashto: پوځ (ps) (pwj), لښکر (ps) m (lax̌kar), اردو (ps) f (ordu), عسکر (ps) m ('askar)
• Persian: گند (fa) (gond) (classic)

  Iranian Persian: اَرْتِش (fa) (arteš), لَشْکَر (fa) (laškar), عَسْکَر (fa) (askar), اُرْدو (fa) (ordu), سِپاه (fa) (sepâh)

• Plautdietsch: Häa n
• Polish: armia (pl) f, wojsko (pl) n
• Portuguese: exército (pt) m
• Punjabi: ਸੈਨਾ (pa) f (sainā)
• Romanian: armată (ro) f, oaste (ro) f
• Romansch: armada f, armeda f
• Russian: а́рмия (ru) f (ármija), во́йско (ru) n (vójsko) (usually plural: войска́ (ru) n pl (vojská))
• Sanskrit: स्थलसैन्यं (sthalasainyaṃ), सेना (sa) f (senā)
• Sardinian: esertzitu m
• Scottish Gaelic: armailt m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: во́јска f, а̀рмија f

  Roman: vójska (sh) f, àrmija (sh) f

• Sicilian: esèrcitu (scn) m, asèrcitu (scn) m
• Sinhalese: ඇණිය (æṇiya), කඳවුර (kaⁿdawura)
• Slovak: armáda (sk) f, vojsko n
• Slovene: vojska (sl) f, armada f
• Somali: askar
• Spanish: ejército (es) m
• Sranan Tongo: legre
• Sudovian: kar'as m
• Swahili: jeshi (sw) class ma
• Swedish: armé (sv) c, här (sv) c
• Tagalog: hukbong-kati
• Tajik: армия (armiya), артиш (artiš), лашкар (laškar), аскар (askar) (dated)
• Tamil: படை (ta) (paṭai), ராணுவம் (ta) (rāṇuvam)
• Tatar: армия (armiyä), гаскәр (tt) (ğaskär), чирү (tt) (çirü)
• Telugu: సేన (te) (sēna)
• Thai: ทัพ (th) (táp), กองทัพ (th) (gɔɔng-táp), พล (th) (pon), กองทัพบก (th) (gɔɔng-táp-bòk)
• Tibetan: དམག་དཔུང (dmag dpung)
• Tigrinya: ሰራዊት (särawit)
• Tocharian B: retke
• Turkish: ordu (tr), leşker (tr)
• Turkmen: goşun, oorda
• Ugaritic: 𐎕𐎁𐎜 (ṣbủ)
• Ukrainian: а́рмія (uk) f (ármija), ві́йсько n (víjsʹko)
• Urdu: فَوج f (fauj), لَشْکَر m (laśkar), جَیش m (jaiś), سِپاہ f (sipāh), اُرْدُو (ur) f (urdū) (rare), عَسْکَر m ('askar), آرْمی f (ārmī)
• Uyghur: ئارمىيە (armiye), قوشۇن (qoshun), ئەسكەر (ug) (esker)
• Uzbek: armiya (uz), qoʻshin (uz), askar (uz)
• Vietnamese: quân đội (vi) (軍隊), lục quân (vi) (陸軍)
• Vilamovian: draowa
• Volapük: milit (vo)
• Walloon: årmeye
• Welsh: byddin (cy) f, llu (cy) m
• West Frisian: leger (fy) n
• Xhosa: umkhosi
• Yakut: аармыйа (aarmıya)
• Yiddish: אַרמיי f (armey), חייל n (khayel)
• Zazaki: aspar (diq) pl, lecker (diq), esker, cond
• Zhuang: ginhdui
• Zulu: impi (zu) class 9/10

government agency in charge of a state's army

• Albanian: armatë (sq) f
• Armenian: բանակ (hy) (banak)
• Bengali: সেনা (bn) (śena)
• Catalan: exèrcit (ca) m
• Danish: hær (da) c, forsvar n
• Dutch: defensie (nl), landsverdediging (nl)
• Estonian: armee, sõjavägi (et)
• Finnish: puolustusvoimat (fi), armeija (fi); Puolustusvoimat (the Finnish Defence Forces)
• Georgian: სამხედრო ძალები (samxedro ʒalebi), შეიარაღებული ძალები (šeiaraɣebuli ʒalebi), თავდაცვის სამინისტრო (tavdacvis saminisṭro)
• German: Heeresamt n
• Greek: στρατός (el) m (stratós)
• Hungarian: honvédség (hu)
• Icelandic: her (is) m
• Luhya: ejeshi
• Polish: armia (pl) f, wojsko (pl) n
• Portuguese: exército (pt) m
• Russian: а́рмия (ru) f (ármija), вооружённые си́лы (ru) f pl (vooružónnyje síly)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: во́јска f

  Roman: vójska (sh) f

• Slovene: vojska (sl) f
• Spanish: ejército (es) m
• Swahili: jeshi (sw) class ma
• Swedish: armé (sv) c

large group of people working towards the same purpose

• Catalan: exèrcit (ca) m
• Danish: hær (da) c
• Dutch: leger (nl) n, horde (nl), bende (nl)
• Finnish: armeija (fi)
• Greek: στρατός (el) m (stratós), στρατιά (el) f (stratiá)
• Latvian: armija f
• Polish: armia (pl) f
• Portuguese: exército (pt) m
• Romanian: mulțime (ro) f
• Russian: а́рмия (ru) f (ármija)
• Slovak: armáda (sk) f
• Spanish: ejército (es) m

large group of social animals working towards the same purpose

• Catalan: exèrcit (ca) m
• Dutch: leger (nl) n
• Finnish: armeija (fi)
• Polish: armia (pl) f
• Portuguese: exército (pt) m
• Romanian: mulțime (ro) f
• Russian: а́рмия (ru) f (ármija)
• Spanish: ejército (es) m
• Swahili: jeshi (sw)

any multitude

• Catalan: exèrcit (ca) m
• Dutch: leger (nl) n, horde (nl), menigte (nl)
• Finnish: massat pl, armeija (fi)
• Greek: πλήθος (el) n (plíthos), στρατιά (el) f (stratiá)
• Hungarian: sereg (hu)
• Japanese: 軍隊 (ja) (ぐんたい, guntai)
• Polish: armia (pl) f
• Portuguese: exército (pt) m, multidão (pt) f
• Romanian: multitudine (ro) f, puzderie (ro) f, mulțime (ro) f
• Russian: а́рмия (ru) f (ármija)
• Slovak: horda
• Spanish: multitud (es) f, ejército (es) m
• Swahili: jeshi (sw)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Albanian: ^{(please verify)} armatë (sq), ^{(please verify)} ushtri (sq)
• Breton: ^{(please verify)} arme (br) f, (forces of an army) ^{(please verify)} armead (br) f
• Esperanto: ^{(please verify)} armeo
• French: ^{(please verify)} armée (fr) f
• Georgian: ^{(please verify)} ჯარი (ǯari)
• Hungarian: ^{(please verify)} sereg (hu)
• Icelandic: ^{(please verify)} hópur (is) m, ^{(please verify)} her (is) m
• Latin: ^{(please verify)} vires (la) f, ^{(please verify)} exercitus m
• Lithuanian: ^{(please verify)} armija (lt) f
• Malayalam: (sainyam) ^{(please verify)} സൈന്യം (ml) (sainyaṁ), ^{(please verify)} സേന (ml) (sēna)
• Maltese: ^{(please verify)} armata
• Slovene: ^{(please verify)} vojska (sl) f, ^{(please verify)} armada f
• Swedish: ^{(please verify)} armé (sv) c
• Telugu: ^{(please verify)} సైన్యం (te) (sainyaṁ), ^{(please verify)} సేన (te) (sēna)
• Turkish: ^{(please verify)} ordu (tr)
• Vietnamese: (1) ^{(please verify)} quân đội (vi)

See also

• navy
• Air Force
• Marines

Anagrams

• Mary, Mayr, Myra, Yarm, mary, yarm