Unarmed

How to spell unarmed

7 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce unarmed

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does unarmed mean?

1. adjectiveNot carrying or equipped with weapons.

Unarmed in a sentence

• The officers confirmed that the suspect was completely unarmed when arrested.

• The protest stayed peaceful, with unarmed marchers walking through the city centre.

Where does unarmed come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word is built from three native English elements that have been around for centuries. The core is 'arm' in its military sense, which came into English from the Old French 'armer', itself from the Latin 'armare' meaning 'to equip with weapons', and ultimately from 'arma', the Latin word for tools or weapons. To that root English added the prefix 'un-', a thoroughly Germanic prefix inherited from Old English meaning simply 'not' or the reversal of an action, and the participial ending '-ed'. The result, recorded from the late Middle Ages onward, literally describes someone or something that has not been supplied with weapons. The spelling is largely transparent, the only point of care being the single 'r' and the doubled letters where 'un' meets 'armed'.

How the word is built

• un- (not)
• arm (to equip with weapons)
• -ed (adjective/past participle suffix)