Armoured

How to spell armoured

8 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce armoured

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does armoured mean?

1. adjectiveProtected or reinforced with a strong defensive covering, especially metal plating.
2. verbFitted or covered something with protective material to resist damage or attack.

Armoured in a sentence

• adjective

  The armoured truck carried the day's takings between the two banks.

• verb

  The engineers armoured the underground cables against gnawing rodents.

• adjective

  Soldiers crossed the disputed border inside an armoured vehicle.

• verb

  The manufacturer armoured the cash machine to withstand a ram raid.

Where does armoured come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin arma, meaning 'weapons' or 'equipment for war', which gave rise to the verb armare, 'to arm or equip'. From that came the Old French noun armeure, describing the protective covering a fighter wore, and English borrowed it in the 1300s as 'armure' or 'armour'. The added 'ed' turns the noun into a descriptive form meaning 'fitted or protected with armour'. The British and Canadian spelling keeps the French-influenced 'our' ending, the same pattern seen in colour and honour, whereas American English trimmed it to 'armored'. The shared arma root still surfaces in everyday relatives such as 'army', 'armament', and 'disarm', a useful reminder that the core idea is always weapons or protection.

How the word is built

• arm- (from Latin arma: weapons, equipment)
• -our (state/quality suffix)
• -ed (adjective/past participle)

British and American spelling

Armoured is the British spelling. American English spells it armored.