arm.
The portion of the upper human appendage, from the shoulder to the wrist and sometimes including the hand.
Meaning & usage
The portion of the upper human appendage, from the shoulder to the wrist and sometimes including the hand.
She stood with her right arm extended and her palm forward to indicate “Stop!”
The extended portion of the upper limb, from the shoulder to the elbow.
The arm and forearm are parts of the upper limb in the human body.
A limb, or locomotive or prehensile organ, of an invertebrate animal.
the arms of an octopus
The part of a piece of clothing that covers the arm.
A long, narrow, more or less rigid part of an object extending from the main part or centre of the object, such as the armrest of an armchair, a crane, a pair of spectacles or a pair of compasses.
The robot arm reached out and placed the part on the assembly line.
I accidentally sat on my glasses and bent one of the arms.
A bay or inlet off a main body of water.
Shelburne Bay is an arm of Lake Champlain.
A branch of an organization.
the cavalry arm of the military service
Power; might; strength; support.
the arm of the law
the secular arm
A pitcher
The team needs to sign another arm in the offseason.
One of the two parts of a chromosome.
A group of patients in a medical trial.
A quantity of dagga leaves rolled up in paper into a thick cylinder.
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂er- Proto-Indo-European *h₂érmos Proto-Germanic *armaz Proto-West Germanic *arm Old English earm Middle English arm English arm From Middle English arm, from Old English earm (Anglian arm), from Proto-West Germanic *arm, from Proto-Germanic *armaz (“arm”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂(e)rmos (“a fitting, joint; arm, forequarter”), a suffixed form of *h₂er- (“to join, fit together”). Cognates Akin to Dutch arm, German Arm, Yiddish אָרעם (orem), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish arm. Indo-European cognates include Latin armus (“the uppermost part of the arm, shoulder”), Bulgarian рамо (ramo), Polish ramię, Serbo-Croatian rȁme, Armenian արմունկ (armunk, “elbow”), Ancient Greek ἁρμός (harmós, “joint, shoulder”) and ἅρμα (hárma, “wagon, chariot”), Avestan 𐬀𐬭𐬨𐬀 (arma), Old Persian [script needed] (arma).
To take by the arm; to take up in one's arms.
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂er- Proto-Indo-European *h₂érmos Proto-Germanic *armaz Proto-West Germanic *arm Old English earm Middle English arm English arm From Middle English arm, from Old English earm (Anglian arm), from Proto-West Germanic *arm, from Proto-Germanic *armaz (“arm”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂(e)rmos (“a fitting, joint; arm, forequarter”), a suffixed form of *h₂er- (“to join, fit together”). Cognates Akin to Dutch arm, German Arm, Yiddish אָרעם (orem), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish arm. Indo-European cognates include Latin armus (“the uppermost part of the arm, shoulder”), Bulgarian рамо (ramo), Polish ramię, Serbo-Croatian rȁme, Armenian արմունկ (armunk, “elbow”), Ancient Greek ἁρμός (harmós, “joint, shoulder”) and ἅρμα (hárma, “wagon, chariot”), Avestan 𐬀𐬭𐬨𐬀 (arma), Old Persian [script needed] (arma).
Poor; lacking in riches or wealth.
To be pitied; pitiful; wretched.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English arm (“poor, wretched”), from Old English earm (“poor, miserable, pitiful, wretched”), from Proto-West Germanic *arm, from Proto-Germanic *armaz (“poor”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁erm- (“poor, ill”). Cognates Akin to Dutch arm (“poor”), German arm (“poor”), Yiddish אָרעם (orem, “poor”), Swedish arm (“poor”).
A weapon.
Heraldic bearings or insignia.
The Duke's arms were a sable gryphon rampant on an argent field.
War; hostilities; deeds or exploits of war.
Where this word comes from
Back-formation from arms (plural), from Middle English armes, from Old French armes, from Latin arma (“weapons”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂er-mo-, a suffixed form of *h₂er- (“to fit together”), hence ultimately cognate with etymology 1.
To supply with armour or (later especially) weapons.
The king armed his knights with swords and shields.
To supply with the equipment, knowledge, authority, or other tools needed for a particular task; to furnish with capability; to equip.
To prepare (a tool, weapon, or system) for action; to activate.
Remember to arm the alarm system before leaving for work.
To become prepared for action; to activate.
To cover or furnish with a plate, or with whatever will add strength, force, security, or efficiency.
to arm the hilt of a sword; to arm a hook in angling
To take up weapons; to arm oneself.
The sergeant sent out an order to arm the team for the next mission.
To fit (a magnet) with an armature.
Where this word comes from
Back-formation from arms (plural), from Middle English armes, from Old French armes, from Latin arma (“weapons”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂er-mo-, a suffixed form of *h₂er- (“to fit together”), hence ultimately cognate with etymology 1.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.