armada

noun

ar·​ma·​da är-ˈmä-də  -ˈmā- 

 also  -ˈma-

1

: a fleet of warships

2

: a large force or group usually of moving things

Did you know?

A Spanish word that originally meant simply "armed", armada is now used in Spanish-speaking nations as the name of their national navies. In English, the word usually has historical overtones. The Great Armada of 1588 was a 120-ship fleet sent by Philip II of Spain in an attempt to invade Elizabethan England; it was defeated when British forces lit eight ships afire and sent them sailing into the Armada's midst, then blocked the passage to the south so that the remaining ships were forced to sail northward around Britain in order to return home, causing dozens more ships to be wrecked in the stormy northern seas. Today we sometimes use the word humorously for fleets of fishing boats, rowboats, or canoes.

Synonyms

• caravan
• cavalcade
• fleet
• line
• motorcade
• train

Examples of armada in a Sentence

an armada of fishing boats

an armada of ships sailing up the coast

Recent Examples on the Web

Asus launched an armada of new ROG gaming laptops and desktops across its existing brands at CES 2025. —Matthew Buzzi, PCMAG, 7 Jan. 2025

Asa Butterfield, Hailee Steinfeld, Harrison Ford The war games and space armadas of Ender’s Game struggled to appeal to 2013’s teens as much as the novel did in 1985, and the movie barely recouped its hefty budget. —Rory Doherty, Vulture, 13 Sep. 2024

Yet, even with a veritable armada of people and tech, the problem persists. —Adriana Lee, WWD, 26 Nov. 2024

The last thing the State Department needs is another armada of consultants descending on Foggy Bottom with fancy slide decks full of new ideas about how the department should look. —William J. Burns, Foreign Affairs, 23 Sep. 2020

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Spanish, "military force, fleet of warships," from armar "to arm, equip" (going back to Latin armāre) + -ada, suffix of action or result (going back to Vulgar Latin *-āta, noun derivative from feminine of Latin -ātus, past participle ending of Latin first-conjugation verbs) — more at arm entry 2

First Known Use

1550, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

armada

noun

ar·​ma·​da är-ˈmäd-ə  -ˈmād- 

1

: a large fleet of warships

2

: a large force or group of usually moving things

an armada of fishing boats

Etymology

from Spanish armada "fleet," derived from Latin arma "weapons"