Etymograph

English

armature

Armature comes from Latin armātūra ‘armour’, from armō ‘furnish with weapons’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂er- ‘to fit, to fix, to put together, to slot’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂er-1‘to fit, to fix, to put together, to slot’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂(e)rmos1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*armos1reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEarma1
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEarmō1‘furnish with weapons’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEarmātūra2‘armour’
  7. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600armature2
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1940armature2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin armatura
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English armature
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1940, Waldo David Frank, Chart for Rough Water: Our Role in a New World: “T. S. Eliot had his legion of followers: the…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂er-Wiktionary, Latin armatura‘to fit, to fix, to put together, to slot’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂(e)rmosWiktionary, Latin armaturareconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*armosWiktionary, Latin armaturareconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEarmaWiktionary, Latin armatura
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEarmōWiktionary, Latin armatura‘furnish with weapons’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEarmātūraWiktionary, English armature‘armour’
  7. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600armatureWiktionary, English armature
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1940armatureWiktionary, English armature. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1940, Waldo David Frank, Chart for Rough Water: Our Role in a New World: “T. S. Eliot had his legion of followers: the…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *h₂er- ‘to fit, to fix, to put together, to slot’

order, reason, ready, art, article, rate, artist, ordinary, arm, ratio, alarm, coordination, harmony, coordinate, arthritis, anarchy, ornament, subordinate, ordination, arithmetic, articulate, inertia, inert, artisan, adorn, ornate, harmonic, aristocratic, harmonious, articulation, ordinate, ordinal, rta, ordinator, rime, ordain, artifice, ordo, harmonize, archon, 75 more

through Latin arma

armistice, 9 more

through Latin armō ‘furnish with weapons’

army, armament, armada, armadillo, 3 more

through Latin armātūra ‘armour’

armor, 1 more

Today it means

noun A detachment of soldiers; soldiers collectively.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “armature”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin armatura. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *h₂er- / armature

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