armada

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UK/ɑːˈmɑːdə/US/ɑɹˈmɑdə/obsolete/ɑː(ɹ)ˈmeɪdə/

noun

A fleet of warships, especially with reference to the Spanish Armada.

“An armada of insects attacked us every day at sunset.”

Less commonScrabble 9

Meanings

armada1

nounarmada (plural armadas)

plural armadas

  1. A fleet of warships, especially with reference to the Spanish Armada.
  2. Any large army or fleet of military vessels.
  3. A large flock of anything.

    An armada of insects attacked us every day at sunset.

  4. collectiveA group of newts.

    During some wet years you may be privy to viewing an armada of newts, as they are collectively called.

    2024 January 29, Kathleen Scavone, “Discover Napa Valley's diverse wildlife on a winter walk”, in Napa Valley Focus, archived from the original on 28 Jul 2026
    2 more examples

    That honour belongs to a hairy-footed flower bee, a breeding pair of geese, some dragonfly nymphs, a flock of grey wagtails, a prickle of hedgehogs, an armada of newts, a flutter of spring butterflies and a “very cheeky” fox.

    2026 April 18, Donna Ferguson, “A prickle of hedgehogs and an armada of newts: wildlife settles in at London’s new Queen Elizabeth garden”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 28 Jul 2026

    We all got excited for a minute or two when the needle started wiggling forward on Six Boulders Trail, but when we came out onto the open ledge and saw an armada of star-eating newts basking in the sun, Audrey sighed, and Francis threw up his hands like those newts were tricksters who'd snatched away his riches.

    2025, Caroline Carlson, The Tinkerers, Candlewick Press

Armada2

proper noun
  1. The Spanish Armada which sailed against England in 1588.

Origin

  1. Latinarmō
  2. Medieval Latinarmāta
  3. Spanisharmada“fleet, navy”
  4. Englisharmada

Borrowed from Spanish armada (“fleet, navy”), from Medieval Latin armāta, from the feminine past participle of Latin armō, from arma. Doublet of army.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Catalan armada
  • armadaa fleet of warships
Chinese Mandarin 艦隊 /舰队
  • 艦隊 /舰队 (jiànduì)a fleet of warships
Finnish sotalaivasto, armeija
  • sotalaivastoa fleet of warships
  • armeijalarge flock of anything
French armada
  • armadaa fleet of warships
German Armada
  • Armadaa fleet of warships
Greek αρμάδα, στόλος
  • αρμάδα (armáda)a fleet of warships
  • στόλος (stólos)a fleet of warships
  • στόλος (stólos)a large army or fleet
Indonesian armada
  • armadaa fleet of warships
Irish armáid, armáid
  • armáida fleet of warships
  • armáida large army or fleet
  • armlarge flock of anything
  • carnlarge flock of anything
  • cuallarge flock of anything
  • plódlarge flock of anything
  • púirlarge flock of anything
  • slualarge flock of anything
Italian armata
  • armataa fleet of warships
Japanese 艦隊
  • 艦隊 (kantai)a fleet of warships
Korean 함대
  • 함대 (hamdae)a fleet of warships
Portuguese armada, armada
  • armadaa fleet of warships
  • armadaa large army or fleet
Romanian armadă
  • armadăa fleet of warships
Russian арма́да, арма́да
  • арма́да (armáda)a fleet of warships
  • арма́да (armáda)a large army or fleet
  • арма́да (armáda)large flock of anything
Spanish armada, flota
  • armadaa fleet of warships
  • flotaa fleet of warships
Swedish armada, flotta
  • armadaa fleet of warships
  • flottaa fleet of warships
  • krigsflottaa fleet of warships
  • stridsflottaa fleet of warships
  • arméa large army or fleet
  • armélarge flock of anything
Tagalog armada
  • armadaa fleet of warships

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with armada

All rhymes →

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

armada. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/armada

MLA

“armada.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/armada. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “armada,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/armada.

Source: armada on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.