▪ I. armour, n.
(ˈɑːmə(r))
Forms: 3–6, (9) armure, 4–5 armur, 4– armour; also 4 aarmour, aarmer, 4– 5 armer, armowr(e, 4–6 -oure, 4–9 armor, 5 armeure, -ewr(e, -ore, 5–6 armeur.
[a. OF. armeüre (13th c. armure):—L. armātūra armature. The current spelling in -our is not etymological, the termination being the same as in vest-ure.]
1. collect. sing. Defensive covering worn by one who is fighting; mail. Cf. arm n.2 1.
| 1297 R. Glouc. 397 He & hys armure were þoru out hot. 1393 Langl. P. Pl. C. ii. 155 May non Armure hit lette. c 1485 Digby Myst. (1882) i. 352 Harneysed in armour of plate and maile. c 1500 Lancelot 824 Aȝaine his strok resistit non armour. 1667 Milton P.L. vi. 209 Arms on Armour clashing. 1718 Pope Iliad iii. 407 Beside each chief his azure armour lay. 1880 Disraeli Endym. lix, Prince Florestan, in a suit of blue damascened armour. |
† 2. (with a
pl.) A suit of mail.
Obs. (
Cf. 7.)
| 1375 Barbour Bruce xi. 76 Wapnys and armowris purvayit thai. 1483 Caxton Gold. Leg. 278/1 He had..armours ynowe for to garnysshe with seuen thousand men. 1569 Tract in Grocers' Comp. (1869) 75 Rich and costly armours, guilt and engrauen. 1635 Brereton Trav. 140 Furnished with about sixty or seventy armours for horse. 1681 Trial S. Colledge 38 Did he discourse anything to you about Arms..Yes, he did, I had an Armour from him. 1751 Chambers Cycl. s.v., A compleat Armor antiently consisted of a casque or helm, a gorget, cuirasse, gantlets, tasses, brassets, cuisses, and covers for the legs. |
† 3. a. collect. sing. with pl. Military equipment or accoutrement, both offensive and defensive, in the widest sense; the whole apparatus of war.
Obs. exc. in
Law.
| a 1300 Becket 955 Other armure nadde he none, for holi churche to fiȝte. 1388 Wyclif 1 Sam. xx. 40 Jonathas ȝaf hise armeris to the child. 1460 J. Capgrave Chron. 195 This herd the Kyng, and stuffid the Toure with vitaile and armoure. 1489 Caxton Faytes of Armes ii. xxxv. 151 With the same armewres they deffended and kepte theyre cyte. 1618 Bolton Florus (1636) 319 The armours of the vanquisht were not consumed with fire. 1759 Dumaresque in Phil. Trans. LI. 485 Their armour for war is a bow and arrows. 1809 Tomlins Law Dict. s.v., Nor go armed, in affray of the peace, on pain to forfeit their armour. |
† b. in
obs. phrases in which
arms is the usual word;
cf. arm n.2 4.
| 1563 Homilies ii. xxi. i. (1859) 559 Subjects who..take armour wickedly..to break the publique peace. 1570 Holinshed Scot. Chron. (1806) I. 73 The people..were up in armour against the King. Ibid. 102 Rising up in armour against him. 1577 ― Chron. I. 85/1 Caused the trumpet to sound to armor. 1577 Hanmer Anc. Eccl. Hist. (1619) 41 The Jewes beganne..to take up Armour against the Romans. |
† 4. The exercise or employment of arms; warfare, fighting, active hostilities.
Cf. arm n.2 6.
Obs.| 1387 Trevisa Higden Rolls Ser. II. 275 Nynus bare out armour [arma foris extulit.] Ibid. IV. 41 Þe Romaynes hadde imeoved noon armour wiþoute Italy. 1526 Bp. Clerk To Wolsey in MS. Cott. Calig. D ix. 104 For a suspention off armeur. 1589 Warner Alb. Eng. vi. xxxii. (1612) 159 She armour still pursu'd. 1602 Ibid. Epit., Insurrections, and ciuill-armor. |
5. fig. from
prec. senses; but now only from 1.
| 1340 Ayenb. 203 Þet is þe armure þet þe dyeuel dret mest. 1382 Wyclif Rom. vi. 13 Neither ȝyue ȝe ȝoure membris aarmours [Tindale & 1611 instruments, Genev. weapons] of wickidnesse to synne. Ibid. xiii. 12 Be we clothid with the armeris of liȝt. 1526 Tindale ibid., Let vs put on the Armoure of lyght. [So subseq. vers.] 1597 J. Payne Royal Exch. 37 Put on the whole armor of God. 1667 Milton P.L. xii. 491 And also arme With spiritual Armour. 1711 Steele Spect. No. 114 ¶7 Putting on unnecessary Armour against improbable Blows of Fortune. 1822 Byron Werner i. i, Suspicion is a heavy armour. |
6. transf. in
Naut. a. = arming vbl. n. 2 (
obs.).
b. The steel or other metallic protective sheathing of a warship, military fortification, vehicle, or aircraft.
| 1466 Mann. & Househ. Exp. 351 Blanket for sheldes for toppe armore of the kervelle xiiijd. 1855 W. M. Gwin (D.A.E.) (title) Report [of] the Committee on Naval Affairs, who were instructed to inquire into the expediency of using submarine armors in the United States navy. 1861 in Offic. Rec. Union & Confed. Navies (U.S.) 1st Ser. IV. 222 (D.A.E.), This addition would nearly treble the strength of the armor. 1870 in Eng. Mech. 7 Jan. 396/2 A belt of armour..to protect broadside guns. 1883 Times 27 Aug. 3/5 Three balls penetrated the armour of the Bayard. |
c. Armoured vehicles collectively.
| 1944 Return to Attack (Army Board, N.Z.) 18/1 Effective enemy 88-millimetre guns, which moved with the tanks, had done much damage to our armour. 1945 News Chron. 18 Apr. 1/5 British armour..has pushed to within 25 miles of Hamburg. |
7. A diver's water-tight suit; (
cf. 2.)
| 1822 Burrowes Cycl. IV. 175/1 In the year 1617 Francis Kessler gave a description of his water-armour, intended also for diving. 1869 Eng. Mech. 1 Oct. 39/1 The best armours now in use are those made of rubber and canvas..The use of this bell has been superseded by the submarine armour. |
8. Nat. Hist. Protective or defensive covering of animals or plants;
abstr. protection, defence (
obs.).
| 1605 Bacon Adv. Learn. ii. vii. §7 The firmness of hides is for the armour of the body against extremities of heat or cold. 1647 Cowley Mistr., Request vi, Piercing the armour of their [i.e. Fishes] Scales. 1814 W. Taylor in Month. Mag. XXXVIII. 148 Thy burnish'd armure speck with glossier jet. 1854 Owen in Orr's Circ. Sc. Org. Nat. I. 165 In these colossal armadillos the trunk-armour was in one immovable piece. |
† 9. Magnetism.
= armature 6 a.
Obs.| 1730 Savery in Phil. Trans. XXXVI. 333 Touched on the soft Armour of a Magnet. 1751 Chambers Cycl., The usual armour of a loadstone. |
10. Heraldic insignia or devices.
coat armour = ‘coat of arms,’ originally a vest of silk or other rich material embroidered in colours, worn over the armour of a knight, to distinguish him in the lists or on the field of battle.
Cf. arm n.2 14.
| c 1340 Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 585 With ryche cote armure. c 1384 Chaucer H. Fame 1326 Euery man..Had on him throwen a vesture Whiche that men clepyn a cote armure Enbrowded wonderly ryche. 1393 Langl. P. Pl. C. xxii. 12 Þese aren cristes armes, Hus colours and hus cote-armure. 1548 Hall Chron. 87 To colouren or hiden in any maner tho [? the] armures. 1628 Coke On Litt. 18 b, If a Nobleman haue his coat armor and Pennions with his armes. 1679–88 Secr. Serv. Moneys Chas. II (1851) 43 For a suite of silk armour 31 li. 1683 Luttrell Brief Rel. I. 264 A pair of pistolls, and an armour made of silk. |
¶ For
armer or
armourer.
| 1550 Crowley Epigr. 426, He turneth no manne To profite or gayne Except it be the surgian, or the armore. 1629 S'hertogenbosh 38 We brought also in the Towne many armours, and a Serjeant of theirs. |
11. Comb. and
attrib., as
armour-joint,
armour-work;
armour-fish (see
quot.);
armour glass, toughened glass (
cf. armour-plate1 2);
armour-piercing a., (of a shell, bomb, gun, etc.) designed to pierce the armour-plating of ships, tanks, etc.;
armour-proof a., as impenetrable as armour, or ? proof against weapons;
armour-shelf, a wide shelf extending below the waterline of an armoured ship, supporting the edge of the armour plating;
armour-wise adv., in the manner of armour. Also
armour-bearer, -clad, -plate,
q.v.| 1748 Phil. Trans. XLV. 170 Cataphractus Americanus, the Armour-Fish..less than a Foot in length, and four Inches broad. |
| 1932 Jrnl. Soc. Glass Technol. XVI. 478 Armour Glass..similar to that made by Messrs. Pilkington Bros. in this country. |
| 1878 Browning Poets Croisic cvii, Stabbed..through the armour-joints! |
| 1897 Daily News 19 July 9/5 Their 12-inch armour-piercing shot. 1922 Encycl. Brit. XXX. 122/1 Armour-piercing projectiles for maximum penetration. |
| 1940 R. W. B. Clarke Britain's Blockade 17 Armour plate of high resistance power and armour-piercing bombs of great penetrating power. |
| 1664 H. More Myst. Iniq. Apol. 561 They that believe all things alike..shall be armour-proof. |
| 1868 E. J. Reed Shipbuilding in Iron & Steel xx. 460 The armour shelf having been completed for a portion of the length amidships, the working of the skin-plating behind armour and of the longitudinal girders is commenced. 1890 W. J. Gordon Foundry 35 The next, in frame up to her armour-shelf, is an iron-clad of 10,000 tons, building for Her Majesty's Navy. |
| 1875 Browning Aristoph. Apol. 240 That which himself went wearing armour-wise. |
| 1664 Power Exp. Philos. i. 2 [The Flea's] head, body, and limbs also, be all of blackish armourwork. |
▪ II. armour, v. (
ˈɑːmə(r))
[f. prec. n.] To put armour on; to furnish with a defensive or protective covering.
| c 1450 Lonelich Grail xiii. 242 Eualach comanded anon His men to armure thame euerichon. 1864 Daily Tel. 22 June, The Kearsage had been armoured during the night with her chain-cables. 1870 Eng. Mech. 11 Mar. 625/3 Cables for submarine use may be afterwards armoured..with wires. 1883 Spurgeon Purit. Gard. 175 Our glorious Leader would never have armed and armoured all his followers. |