arm

1. (international standards)ISO 639-2/Blanguage code forArmenian.

• (UK)enPR:äm,IPA^(key):/ɑːm/
• (US)enPR:ärm,IPA^(key):/ɑɹm/
• (General Australian)enPR:äm,IPA^(key):/ɐːm/

• Audio(US):

  (file)

• Rhymes:-ɑː(ɹ)m

FromMiddle Englisharm, fromOld Englishearm, fromProto-West Germanic*arm, fromProto-Germanic*armaz(“arm”), fromProto-Indo-European*h₂(e)rmos(“a fitting, joint; arm, forequarter”), a suffixed form of*h₂er-(“to join, fit together”).

arm (pluralarms)

2. (anatomy) The portion of the upper humanappendage, from theshoulder to thewrist and sometimes including thehand.

   She stood with her rightarm extended and herpalm forward to indicate “Stop!”

   • 1963,Margery Allingham, chapter 19, inThe China Governess: A Mystery, London:Chatto & Windus,→OCLC:

     When Timothy and Julia hurried up the staircase to the bedroom floor, where a considerable commotion was taking place, Tim took Barry Leach with him. He had him gripped firmly by thearm, since he felt it was not safe to let him loose, and he had no immediate idea what to do with him.

   • 1991, “Jesus Christ Pose”, inChris Cornell (lyrics),Soundgarden (music),Badmotorfinger, performed bySoundgarden, Track 4:

     And you stare at me
     In your Jesus Christ pose
     Arms held out
     Like you've been carrying a load

4. (anatomy) The extended portion of the upperlimb, from theshoulder to theelbow.

   Thearm and forearm are parts of the upper limb in the human body.

5. Alimb, orlocomotive orprehensileorgan, of aninvertebrate animal.

   thearms of an octopus

6. The part of a piece of clothing that covers the arm.

   Synonym:sleeve

   • 1851 November 14,Herman Melville, “Chapter 100”, inMoby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.:Harper & Brothers; London:Richard Bentley,→OCLC,page485:

     […] onearm of this jacket streamed behind him like thebroideredarm of ahuzzar’ssurcoat.

   • 1970,J. G. Farrell,Troubles‎^[1], New York: Knopf, published1971, page340:

     […] he noticed that a dark stain had appeared under thearm of her grey silk dress.

   • 2000,Zadie Smith,White Teeth, London: Hamish Hamilton,→ISBN,page82:

     Samad made a grab for the boy and caught him by thearm of his shirt.

7. A long,narrow, more or lessrigid part of an objectextending from the main part or centre of the object, such as thearmrest of anarmchair, acrane, a pair ofspectacles or apair of compasses.

   The robotarm reached out and placed the part on the assembly line.

8. (geography) Abay orinlet off a main body of water.

   Shelburne Bay is anarm of Lake Champlain.

9. Abranch of anorganization.

   the cavalryarm of the military service

   • 2018 April 25,Ron Nixon, “Scandals and Investigations, but Few Arrests, for Air Marshals Program”, inThe New York Times‎^[2]:

     Congress has asked the Government Accountability Office, its investigativearm, to review the workplace complaints raised by air marshals, said Charles Young, a spokesman for the office.

10. (figurative) Power; might; strength; support.

    thearm of the law

    the seculararm

    • 1611,The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London:[…]Robert Barker, […],→OCLC,Isaiah52:1:

      To whom is thearm of the Lord revealed?

11. (baseball,slang) Apitcher

    The team needs to sign anotherarm in the offseason.

12. (genetics) One of the two parts of achromosome.
13. A group of patients in a medical trial.

arm (third-person singular simple presentarms,present participlearming,simple past and past participlearmed)

1. (obsolete) To take by thearm; totake up in one's arms.
   • 1611 April (first recorded performance),William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Cymbeline”, inMr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London:[…]Isaac Iaggard, andEd[ward] Blount, published1623,→OCLC,[Act IV, scene ii]:

     And make him with our pikes and partisans / A grave: come,arm him.

   • 1613–1614 (date written),John Fletcher,William Shak[e]speare,The Two Noble Kinsmen: […], London:[…]Tho[mas] Cotes, forIohn Waterson; […], published1634,→OCLC,(please specify the page),(please specify the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals):

     Arm your prize; / I know you will not lose him.

FromMiddle Englisharm(“poor, wretched”), fromOld Englishearm(“poor, miserable, pitiful, wretched”), fromProto-West Germanic*arm, fromProto-Germanic*armaz(“poor”), fromProto-Indo-European*h₁erm-(“poor, ill”).

arm (comparativearmerormorearm,superlativearmestormostarm)

1. (UKdialectal, chieflyScotland)Poor;lacking inriches orwealth.
2. (UKdialectal, chieflyScotland) To bepitied;pitiful;wretched.

• armth

• The Dictionary of the Scots Language

Back-formation fromarms(plural), fromMiddle Englisharmes, fromOld Frencharmes, fromLatinarma(“weapons”), fromProto-Indo-European*h₂er-mo-, a suffixed form of*h₂er-(“to fit together”), hence ultimately cognate with etymology 1.

arm (pluralarms)

1. (usually used in the plural) Aweapon.
   • 1789,Second Amendment to the United States Constitution:

     A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bearArms, shall not be infringed.

   • 1881–1882,Robert Louis Stevenson,Treasure Island, London; Paris:Cassell & Company, published 14 November 1883,→OCLC:

     The next thing I laid hold of was a brace of pistols, and as I already had a powder horn and bullets, I felt myself well supplied witharms.

2. (in theplural)Heraldicbearings orinsignia.

   The Duke'sarms were a sable gryphon rampant on an argent field.

3. (in theplural,obsolete)War;hostilities;deeds orexploits of war.(Can we add anexample for this sense?)

• Pubs and taverns often use this word in their names, as a reference to heraldic bearings, e.g.The Queen's Arms.

• See alsoThesaurus:weapon

arm (third-person singular simple presentarms,present participlearming,simple past and past participlearmed)

1. (transitive) Tosupply witharmour or (later especially)weapons.

   The kingarmed his knights with swords and shields.

   • 2015, George R. R. Martin,A Dance with Dragons, Bantam,→ISBN, page593:

     They werearming them with spears and shields, putting iron halfhelms on their heads, and arraying them along the inner wall, a rank of snowy sentinels. "Lord Winter has joined us with his levies," one of the sentries [said].

2. (transitive,figurative) To supply with theequipment,knowledge,authority, or othertools needed for a particular task; tofurnish withcapability; toequip.
   • 1593, anonymous author,The Life and Death of Iacke Straw […],Act I:

     thou getteſt no more of me.
     For I am ſure thy Office doth notarme thee with ſuch authoritie.

   • 1611,The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London:[…]Robert Barker, […],→OCLC,1 Peter4:1:

     arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin;

   • 1801(?), John Bunyan,The Pilgrim's Progress ... to which is Added, the Life and Death of the Author, page 359:

     Many following him, and, in his journeyings, he visited many at their houses, and gave them consolation,arming them with steady resolves, to be patient in suffering and trust to God for their reward;[…]

   • 1806, William turner,An Abstract of the History of the Bible ... With questions for examination, etc, page43:

     [God] directed them to choose out three hundred only, and,arming them with nothing but trumpets and lamps, to send them by night into the camp of the Midianites.

   • 1885,United States Congressional Serial Set, page119:

     Q. In other words, you were commissioning men here in Cincinnati to attend the polls,arming them with authority to arrest citizens; men from outside of the city of Cincinnati to arrest citizens of the city of Cincinnati[…]

   • 2011, Meredith H. Lair,Armed with Abundance: Consumerism & Soldiering in the Vietnam War, Univ of North Carolina Press,→ISBN, page215:

     Picture taking soothed support troops' anxieties twice over, empowering them as they navigated a strange environment, andarming them with proof that they really had served in a war.

   • 2014, Susan Fawcett,Grassroots with Readings: The Writer's Workbook, Cengage Learning,→ISBN, page466:

     […] andarming them with skills, work habits, and inner confidence that no one can ever take away.

3. (transitive) Toprepare (atool,weapon, orsystem) foraction; toactivate.

   Remember toarm the alarm system before leaving for work.

4. (intransitive, of atool,weapon, orsystem) To becomeprepared foraction; toactivate.
   • 2021 March 10, Drachinifel, 14:43 from the start, inGuadalcanal Campaign - The Big Night Battle: Night 1 (IJN 3(?) : 2 USN)‎^[3], archived fromthe original on17 October 2022:

     Torpedoes were loosed, but the range was too short for them to actuallyarm, and they bounced harmlessly off the ship as it cut loose with its secondary and antiaircraft guns, smashing anything that it could see.

5. (transitive) Tocover orfurnish with aplate, or with whatever willaddstrength,force,security, orefficiency.

   toarm the hilt of a sword; toarm a hook in angling

6. (intransitive) Totake upweapons; to arm oneself.
   • 1974 February 2, Igor S. V. de Goldilox-Goldilox, “Personal advertisement”, inGay Community News, volume 1, number32, page14:

     Are youarming, comrade Atheists?
     Are youarming for the fray?

7. (transitive) Tofit (amagnet) with anarmature.

• (furnish with weapons):beweapon

• -mar-,AMR,MAR,MRA,Mar,Mar.,RAM,RMA,Ram,mar,mar-,ram

FromDutcharm.

• Audio:

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arm (pluralarms)

1. arm

FromMiddle High Germanarm, fromOld High Germanarm, fromProto-West Germanic*arm, fromProto-Germanic*armaz(“arm”). Cognate withGermanArm,Englisharm.

arm m (pluralèrme)

1. (Sette Comuni)arm

   An langararm rékhet béetor. ―A longarm can reach further.

• èrmel

FromMiddle High Germanarm, fromOld High Germanarm, fromProto-West Germanic*arm, fromProto-Germanic*armaz(“poor, pitiful”). Cognate withGermanarm,Englisharm.

arm (comparativeèrmor,superlativedarèrmorste)

1. (Sette Comuni,Luserna)poor

   Bèar isarm hat nicht so borliran. ―He who ispoor has nothing to lose.

This adjective has irregular declension; positive inflected forms also haveumlaut.

• armakhot,èrmakhot
• èrmar stòkh

• “arm” inMartalar, Umberto Martello, Bellotto, Alfonso (1974)Dizionario della lingua Cimbra dei Sette Communi vicentini, 1st edition, Roana, Italy: Instituto di Cultura Cimbra A. Dal Pozzo
• Patuzzi, Umberto, ed., (2013)Luserna / Lusérn: Le nostre parole / Ünsarne börtar / Unsere Wörter [Our Words], Luserna, Italy: Comitato unitario delle isole linguistiche storiche germaniche in Italia / Einheitskomitee der historischen deutschen Sprachinseln in Italien

• IPA^(key):/arm/,[ɑːˀm]

FromOld Norsearmr(“arm”), fromProto-Germanic*armaz, fromProto-Indo-European*h₂er-mo-(“arm”).

arm c (singular definitearmen,plural indefinitearme)

1. (anatomy)arm

FromOld Norsearmr(“arm, poor”), fromProto-Germanic*armaz(“poor”).

arm

1. (dated)poor, notrich

   Synonym:fattig

2. unfortunate,poor

   Synonym:stakkels

•  arm on the Danish Wikipedia.Wikipedia^da
•  Arm (flertydig) on the Danish Wikipedia.Wikipedia^da

• IPA^(key):/ɑrm/

• Audio:

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• Hyphenation:arm
• Rhymes:-ɑrm

FromMiddle Dutcharm, fromOld Dutcharm, fromProto-West Germanic*arm, fromProto-Germanic*armaz(“arm”), fromProto-Indo-European*h₂(e)rmos(“a fitting, joint”), a suffixed form of*h₂er-(“to join, fit together”). Cognate toAvestan𐬀𐬭𐬨𐬀(arma) andOld Persian[script needed](arma).

arm m (pluralarmen,diminutivearmpje n)

2. arm

   Iemand kneep in mijnarm.

   Someone pinched my arm.

3. branch(especially of streams and organisations)

• Afrikaans:arm
• Javindo:arrem
• Negerhollands:arm,erm

FromMiddle Dutcharm, fromOld Dutcharm, fromProto-West Germanic*arm, fromProto-Germanic*armaz, perhaps fromProto-Indo-European*h₂erH-(“to be sparse”).

arm (comparativearmer,superlativearmst)

2. poor (not rich)

   arme landen ―poor countries

3. poor (unfortunate)

   arme stakker… ―poor soul…

• Afrikaans:arm
• Berbice Creole Dutch:arum
• Jersey Dutch:arm
• Negerhollands:aerm
• Petjo:arm

• ram

arm

1. (Erzgebirgisch,intransitive) towork

   Synonym:arbittn

• 2020 June 11, Hendrik Heidler,Hendrik Heidler's 400 Seiten: Echtes Erzgebirgisch: Wuu de Hasen Hoosn haaßn un de Hosen Huusn do sei mir drhamm: Das Original Wörterbuch: Ratgeber und Fundgrube der erzgebirgischen Mund- und Lebensart: Erzgebirgisch – Deutsch / Deutsch – Erzgebirgisch‎^[4], 3. geänderte Auflage edition, Norderstedt: BoD – Books on Demand,→ISBN,→OCLC, page17:

FromProto-Finnic*arpi;arm is an irregular variant of the root; the expectedarb can be seen in dialects.

arm (genitivearmi,partitivearmi)

1. scar

FromProto-Finnic*armo. Most likely derived fromarmas. Cognate toVoticarmo(“grace, mercy”).

arm (genitivearmu,partitivearmu)

1. mercy
2. pardon
3. (poetic)love,affection

arm

1. indefiniteaccusativesingular ofarmur

FromProto-West Germanic*arm, fromProto-Germanic*armaz, perhaps fromProto-Indo-European*h₂erH-(“to be sparse”) or alternatively fromProto-Indo-European*h₃erbʰ-, whenceEnglishorphan.

• IPA^(key):[aʁm]

• Audio(Germany):

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• Audio(Germany):

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• Audio(Austria):

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arm (strong nominative masculine singulararmer,comparativeärmer,superlativeamärmsten)

1. poor(having little money)
2. poor(to be pitied)

   arm dran sein ―to have bad luck

   lieberarm dran als Arm ab ―better to have bad luck than to lose an arm [theplay on words is lost in translation]

3. low(having a small amount)

• reich

• Armenkasse
• Armenkrankenhaus
• Arme Ritter
• armes Würstchen

• “arm” inDigitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
• “arm” in Uni Leipzig:Wortschatz-Lexikon
• “arm” inDuden online

arm

1. indefiniteaccusativesingular ofarmur

FromOld Irisharm n(“armour, battle-equipment, panoply; weapon; army”), fromLatinarma.^[1]

• (Munster,Aran)IPA^(key):/ˈɑɾˠəmˠ/^[2][3]
• (Connemara,Mayo,Ulster)IPA^(key):/ˈaɾˠəmˠ/^[4]

arm m (genitive singularairm,nominative pluralairm)

1. weapon;implement,tool
2. (collective)arms
3. army

• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “arm”, inFoclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm,→ISBN
• Dinneen, Patrick S. (1904) “arm”, inFoclóir Gaeḋilge agus Béarla, 1st edition, Dublin: Irish Texts Society,page40
• de Bhaldraithe, Tomás (1959) “arm”, inEnglish-Irish Dictionary, An Gúm
• “arm”, inNew English-Irish Dictionary, Foras na Gaeilge,2013-2025

• ārm

FromDutcharm. Cognates includeAfrikaansarm.

• IPA^(key):/ɑrm/

arm

1. poor
   • 1912,Tijdschrift voor Nederlandsche taal— en letterkunde, volumes 31-32, page 309:

     Hāi waz nît tevrêde täus en dârkîs tû râkniarm.[…]|He was not content at home and therefore he becamepoor.

FromProto-Finnic*armo. Akin toFinnisharmo.

arm

1. peace
2. love

• IPA^(key):/arm/

FromOld Dutcharm, fromProto-West Germanic*arm, fromProto-Germanic*armaz.

arm m

2. arm

• ārem
• āerm

• Dutch:arm
  • Afrikaans:arm
  • Javindo:arrem
  • Negerhollands:arm,erm
• Limburgish:erm

• “arm (I)”, inVroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek,2000
• Verwijs, E.,Verdam, J. (1885–1929) “arm (I)”, inMiddelnederlandsch Woordenboek, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff,→ISBN, page I

FromOld Dutcharm, fromProto-West Germanic*arm, fromProto-Germanic*armaz.

arm

2. poor, having fewpossessions
3. unfortunate,pitiable

• ārem

• Dutch:arm
  • Afrikaans:arm
  • Berbice Creole Dutch:arum
  • Jersey Dutch:arm
  • Negerhollands:aerm
  • Petjo:arm
• Limburgish:erm

• “arm (II)”, inVroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek,2000
• Verwijs, E.,Verdam, J. (1885–1929) “arm (II)”, inMiddelnederlandsch Woordenboek, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff,→ISBN, page II

FromOld Englishearm(“arm”), fromProto-West Germanic*arm, fromProto-Germanic*armaz(“arm”), fromProto-Indo-European*arəm-(“arm”).

• arum,harm,erm,herm

arm (pluralarms)

2. arm

• English:arm
• Scots:airm
• Yola:arrm

• “arm,n.”, inMED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.:University of Michigan,2007.

FromOld Englishearm(“poor, wretched”), fromProto-West Germanic*arm, fromProto-Germanic*armaz(“poor”), fromProto-Indo-European*erm-(“poor, ill”).

arm

2. poor
3. miserable,wretched

• English:arm
• Scots:arm

• “arm,adj.”, inMED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.:University of Michigan,2007.

FromOld Norsearmr.

arm (neuter singulararmt,definite singular and pluralarme)

1. poor

• fattig

arm m (definite singulararmen,indefinite pluralarmer,definite pluralarmene)

1. (anatomy) anarm

• “arm” inThe Bokmål Dictionary.

• IPA^(key):/ˈɑrm/

FromOld Norsearmr m, fromProto-Germanic*armaz m. Akin toEnglisharm.

arm m (definite singulararmen,indefinite pluralarmar,definite pluralarmane)

1. (anatomy) anarm

FromOld Norsearmr, fromProto-Germanic*armaz.

arm (neuterarmt,definite singular and pluralarme,comparativearmare,indefinite superlativearmast,definite superlativearmaste)

1. poor,pitiful(to be pitied)

• arming

• “arm” inThe Nynorsk Dictionary.

• mar,ram

FromProto-West Germanic*arm, fromProto-Germanic*armaz.

arm m

2. arm

• Middle Dutch:arm
  • Dutch:arm
    • Afrikaans:arm
    • Javindo:arrem
    • Negerhollands:arm,erm
  • Limburgish:erm