Armistice

How to spell armistice

9 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce armistice

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does armistice mean?

1. nounA formal agreement between opposing sides to stop fighting, usually as a step towards a lasting peace.

Armistice in a sentence

• The two countries signed an armistice after months of negotiation.

• The armistice held for only a few weeks before the shelling resumed.

Where does armistice come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word comes from the modern Latin armistitium, a compound built from arma, meaning 'weapons' or 'arms', and a form of the verb sistere, meaning 'to stop' or 'to cause to stand still'. The literal sense is therefore a 'standing still of arms', that is, an agreed halt to fighting rather than a permanent peace. English borrowed it in the early 1700s by way of French armistice, and it became famous through the Armistice of 1918 that ended the First World War. The same -stice element, from sistere and its relative stare 'to stand', also lies hidden inside 'solstice', the point where the sun seems to stand still in the sky. Remembering that the word ends in the quiet -stice of 'solstice', and not in -tice, is the key to spelling it correctly.

How the word is built

• arm- (from Latin arma: weapons, arms)
• -stice (from sistere: to stop, to stand still)