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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.
Examples of armada in a Sentence
Maria Fantappie, Foreign Affairs, 22 Mar. 2023
There’s also space aboard for a small armada of water toys and tenders, plus accommodations below decks for up to 45 crew and support staff.
—Howard Walker, Robb Report, 9 Sep. 2024
Spectacles included a massive armada of drones forming a unified globe above the stadium to John Lennon’s Imagine.
—John Devore, Outside Online, 25 July 2024
Their mission was to fly to Cuba for reconnaissance to prepare everything for the arrival of the armada with missiles and troops in the following months.
—Sergey Radchenko, Foreign Affairs, 3 Apr. 2023
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Cite this Entry
“Armada.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/armada. Accessed 28 Nov. 2024.
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