Etymograph

English

puppet army

From puppet + army, a calque from Mandarin 傀儡軍／傀儡军 (kuǐlěijūn, “puppet army”).

A compound of puppet + army

Middle English popet ‘a small or young person’

English puppet

Proto-Indo-European *h₂er- ‘to join, fit together’

…

Latin armō ‘to arm’

Medieval Latin armāta ‘armed force’

Old French armee

Middle English armee

English army

Today it means

noun An army that an invading country forms by recruiting people from already-occupied areas of the country being invaded.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “puppet army”. 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 / puppet army

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