armed services | Search Online Etymology Dictionary

175 entries found.

"equipped for battle," early 13c., past-participle adjective from arm (v.).

also bitchen, "good," teen/surfer slang attested from 1950s, apparently from bitch (v.) in some inverted sense. Meaning "complaining" is by 1945, U.S. armed services.

doolally (adj.)

"insane, eccentric," British slang, by 1917 in the armed services and in full doolally tap (with the Urdu word for "fever"), from Deolali, near Bombay, India, which was a military camp (established 1861) with a large barracks and a chief staging point for British troops on their way to or from India; the reference is to men whose enlistments had expired who waited there impatiently for transport home.

retainer (n.1)

[fee to secure services] mid-15c., "act of keeping for oneself, an authorized retention (of dues, etc.)," an agent noun from retain (v.), or perhaps from or influenced by French retenir, infinitive used as a noun. Meaning "a retaining fee, fee paid to an attorney or barrister to secure his services" is from 1818. The general sense of "sum paid to secure special services" is from 1859.

lancer (n.)

1580s, "soldier armed with a lance," from French lancier "soldier, knight armed with a lance," from Old French lance (see lance (n.)).

gunny (n.2)

1940s, Armed Forces slang, short for gunnery sergeant.

hoplite (n.)

"heavy-armed foot soldier of ancient Greece," 1727, from Greek hoplites "heavy-armed," as a noun, "heavy-armed soldier, man-at-arms," from hopla "arms and armor, gear for war," plural of hoplon "tool, weapon, implement." One who carries a large shield, as opposed to a peltastes, so called for his small, light shield (pelte).

octopod

1826 (adj.), "eight-footed or eight-armed;" 1835 (n.) "an eight-footed or eight-armed animal," especially an octopus, from Latinized form of Greek oktōpod-, stem of oktōpous (see octopus).

Wehrmacht (n.)

"the armed forces of Germany," 1935, from German Wehrmacht (name of the armed forces 1921-1945), from Wehr "defense" (from PIE root *wer- (4) "to cover") + Macht "might" (from PIE root *magh- "to be able, have power").

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