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Origin and history of army

army(n.)

late 14c., armee, "armed expedition," from Old French armée "armed troop, armed expedition" (14c.), from Medieval Latin armata "armed force," from Latin armata, fem. of armatus "armed, equipped, in arms," as a noun, "armed men, soldiers," past participle of armare "to arm," literally "act of arming," related to arma "tools, arms" (see arm (n.2)).

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Originally used of expeditions on sea or land; the restriction to "land force" is by late 18c. The transferred meaning "host, multitude" is by c. 1500. The meaning "body of men trained and equipped for war" is from 1550s.

The Old English words were here (still preserved in derivatives such as harrier; see harry (v.)), from Proto-Germanic *harjan, from PIE *korio- "people, crowd;" and fierd, with an original sense of "expedition," from Proto-Germanic *farthi-, related to faran "travel" (see fare (v.)). 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. Army-ant is from 1863, so called for marching in immense numbers.

also from late 14c.

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Entries linking to army

arm(n.2)

[weapon], c. 1300, armes (plural) "weapons of a warrior," from Old French armes (plural), "arms, weapons; war, warfare" (11c.), from Latin arma "weapons" (including armor), literally "tools, implements (of war)," from PIE *ar(ə)mo-, suffixed form of root *ar- "to fit together." The notion seems to be "that which is fitted together." Compare arm (n.1).

The meaning "branch of military service" is from 1798, hence "branch of any organization" (by 1952). The meaning "heraldic insignia" (in coat of arms, etc.) is early 14c., from a use in Old French; originally they were borne on shields of fully armed knights or barons. To be up in arms figuratively is from 1704; to bear arms "do military service" is by 1640s.

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fare(v.)

Old English faran "to journey, set forth, go, travel, wander, make one's way," also "be, happen, exist; be in a particular condition," from Proto-Germanic *faranan "to go" (source also of Old Saxon, Old High German, Gothic faran, Old Norse and Old Frisian fara, Dutch varen, German fahren), from PIE *por- "going, passage," from root *per- (2) "to lead, pass over." Related: Fared; faring.

Trends of army

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

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harry
Old English hergian "make war, lay waste, ravage, plunder," the word used in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle for what the Vikings did to England, from Proto-Germanic *harjon (source also of Old Frisian urheria "lay waste, ravage, plunder," Old Norse herja "to make a raid, to plunder,"
host
"person who receives guests," especially for pay, late 13c., from Old French oste, hoste "guest, host, hostess, landlord" (12c., Modern French hôte), from Latin hospitem (nominative hospes) "guest, stranger, sojourner, visitor (hence also 'foreigner')," also "host; one bound by t
strategy
directly from Latinized form of Greek stratēgia "office or command of a general," from stratēgos "general, commander of an army...," also the title of various civil officials and magistrates, from stratos "multitude, troop, a division of the people; army..., navy, expedition, encamped army," probably originally "a camping army," and meaning etymologically "that which is spread...
D-day
operation," with D as an abbreviation of day; compare H-hour, also from the same military order of Sept. 7, 1918: The First Army...[Field Order No. 8, First Army, A.E.F.]...Army Center of Military History Web site]. Now almost exclusively of June 6, 1944....
Walter
Modern French Gautier), of Germanic origin and cognate with Old High German Walthari, Walthere, literally "ruler of the army...," from waltan "to rule" (from Proto-Germanic *waldan, from PIE root *wal- "to be strong") + hari "host, army" (see harry...
air force
Army. In 1942, the War Department reorganized it and renamed it Army Air Forces....
heriot
Old English here-geatwe (plural) "military equipment, army-gear," from here "army" (see harry (v.)) + geatwe, from Proto-Germanic...
corps
"a part of an army expressly organized and having a head," 1704, from French corps d'armée (16c.), which apparently was picked up in English during Marlborough's campaigns, from French corps (old French cors) "body," from Latin corpus "body" (from PIE root *kwrep- "body, form, ap
office
mid-13c., "a post in government or administration, an employment to which certain duties are attached, secular position of authority or responsibility," from Anglo-French and Old French ofice "place or function; divine service" (12c. in Old French) and directly from Latin officiu
Mary
fem. proper name, Old English Maria, Marie, name of the mother of Jesus, from Latin Maria, from Greek Mariam, Maria, from Aramaic Maryam, from Hebrew Miryam, name of the sister of Moses (Exodus xv), a word of unknown origin, said to mean literally "rebellion." The nursery rhyme "
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Dictionary entries near army