Q&A: Origins of the words ‘army’ and ‘navy’

Each week here at the Australian Writers’ Centre, we dissect and discuss, contort and retort, ask and gasp at the English language and all its rules, regulations and ridiculousness. It’s a celebration of language, masquerading as a passive-aggressive whinge about words and weirdness. This week, armed sources…

Q: Hi AWC, where does the word “army” come from?

A: Ohhh, that’s a good one. Any guesses?

Q: Well, armed forces – so weapons? But then why are weapons called “arms” in the first place? Only some of them look like arms.

A: Some interesting ideas there. And you’re not a million miles away. The word came to English in the 14th century from the Old French “armée” – for “armed expeditions” or “armed troop”.

Q: But why “armed” at all?

A: We’re getting there. This term had originally come from the Latin “armata” – meaning “armed men; soldiers”. And while the weapon “arm” root came from Latin “arma” (where we also get “armour” from), it also had the “ar–” prefix in common with the human body “arm”.

Q: So what did the “ar–” bit mean?

A: It meant “that which is fitted together”. 

Q: Pretty generic.

A: Yeah, sorry about that. The word “armer”, again via Old French, started off as a verb around 1200, meaning “to provide weapons to”. The noun “armes” – “the weapons of a warrior” – followed around 1300. And then we see this applied en masse to an “army” later that same century.

Q: So it started off as “to arm”, became the “arms” themselves, and finally a bunch of “armed soldiers”?

A: That’s how it went.

Q: What about a “coat of arms”?

A: This also came from French at the same time as the “armes” did – from a practice of heraldic insignia, where barons or knights were displayed on a shield carrying weapons.

Q: Why not call it a “shield of arms” then?

A: Because that shield was then embroidered or painted onto an actual tunic (early coat) and worn on the outside of armour. Fun fact, it’s also where we later get the word “turncoat” (around the 1550s) for someone turned their tunic inside out to hide their loyalty.

Q: Wow, that’s cool!

A: Not for the turncoat’s buddies though.

Q: Yeah, good point. Super awkward at the local tavern.

A: Anyway, “to bear arms” made its way into our vocabulary by the mid-1600s as a way to describe doing military service. And of course, America famously made it a sacred right in the Second Amendment of their Constitution. 

Q: I’ve never understood why they are so passionate about their right to bear arms. They’re surely hairy and uncomfortable and those claws must make it hard to pick things up.

A: You’re hilarious.

Q: Thank you. So what happened to the word “army”?

A: It came to mean any “host or multitude” by around 1500 – for example, an army of ants. And by 1550, it was specifically applied to “a body of men trained and equipped for war”.

Q: No women?

A: They were at home embroidering the tunics.

Q: Fair enough. And these armies were just for fighting land battles?

A: Initially, they were on land and sea. We even see the famous “Spanish Armada” during this time – with “armada” having the same Latin “armata” route and applying specifically to armed boats.

Q: So if the army was doing all the fighting on land and sea, why so much navel-gazing from the “navy”?

A: Haha, cute. “Navel” is another name for the belly-button, from the Latin for “umbilicus” and other roots like Sanskrit for “next of kin”. The “navel orange” took its name from this in the 1830s, as the fruit grows an extra belly-button-like fruit on its skin. And “navel-gazing” as a term is quite new, around the 1930s.

Q: But none of these relate to the navy?

A: Nope. In fact, the navy adjective is even a different spelling – “naval”.

Q: Okay, fair enough. But then when DID the navy come sailing into the picture?

A: The original word “navie” also made its way from Old French in the 1300s to mean a fleet or a ship. It came from the Latin “navigium” for boat. And it’s also clearly where “navigation” comes from.

Q: So wait, “navigation” was only about the sea?

A: That’s right! It meant the “act of moving on water in ships or other vessels”. Later it would also be applied to the ships of the air – air “craft” that travelled between air “ports” and so on.

Q: Mind blown. I’ve never thought about it like that. So, you don’t navigate on land?

A: While no one would flinch if you said you were using a map to “navigate” across land, technically it still refers solely to waterways and the sky. And in modern times, the internet.

Q: So when was the first official “navy”?

A: King Henry VIII seems to have established the first named navy in the 1540s with his “Navy Royal”. There had been informal “navies” before this, but this was a biggie.

Q: Like Hank VIII himself!

A: Indeed. 

Q: So the word didn’t just turn up out of the navy blue? 

A: Haha, no, the colour did not come first. The dark blue shade known as “navy blue” – originally named “marine blue” – came specifically from the colour of the uniform worn by officers of the British Royal Navy and dates to 1748.

Q: The blue really sets off those coats of arms…

A: So in 1588, you would have indeed seen the “British Royal Navy” defeating the “Spanish Armada” – a literal clash of these two word origins.

Q: Cool! Although I’m guessing this fun fact was lost on them at the time.

A: Undoubtedly. By the way, despite the British example and a few others, it really was only in the late 1700s that “navy” became the widespread word to mean a sea-based force. Until this time, “army” often covered both, but since then it has been solely land-based.

Q: Well this has been fascinating. And thank you to all those who serve or have served in the armed forces. Including my great uncle, who only joined the navy out of spite.

A: Oh really?

Q: Yes, he was a petty officer. Bahahaahahaa

A: Ugh. You’re dismissed.

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