armada
noun
-ˈmā- 
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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
Example Sentences
Fox News, 6 Sep. 2022 But in 1853, the country was forced to come out of seclusion, with an American armada sitting at the mouth of what is today Tokyo Bay. New York Times, 3 Mar. 2022 Again, Chicago is probably too far north at the moment to get an armada of armadillos, said Seth Magle, director of the Urban Wildlife Institute at the Lincoln Park Zoo. Christopher Borrelli, Chicago Tribune, 14 May 2022 And in Italy police have grabbed a veritable armada, including a boat owned by one of Russia’s richest men, Alexei Mordashov, and a colossus suspected of belonging to Putin himself, the four-hundred-and-fifty-nine-foot Scheherazade. Evan Osnos, The New Yorker, 18 July 2022 Meanwhile, the invincible Blefuscu armada is at the gates of the city and threatening another attack. Patrick Frater, Variety, 4 May 2022 Top-tier restaurants, boutiques, galleries and flashy condos now coexist with a wildly popular library, an armada of floating saunas and a sandy beach, frequented by toddlers and swans. Deborah Dunn, WSJ, 13 May 2022 And now, as the West sanctions and sweeps up these vessels, Russia’s luxe armada can go to work for the West as roving diplomatic posts or globe-spanning Presidential and Royal yachts. Craig Hooper, Forbes, 30 Apr. 2022 News of the outcome spread across Europe, and many learned that the armada had, as expected, won the day and crushed the English fleet. Renee Diresta, Wired, 26 Mar. 2021 See More Word History
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
1550, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Kids Definition
armada
noun
armadas
noun
Synonyms & Similar Words
- fleets
- convoys
- flotillas
- caravans
- cavalcades
- parades
- motorcades
- processions
- navies
- trains
- lines
- argosies
- columns
- corteges
- cortèges