different between armed vs defensive

English

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /??md/
• (UK) IPA^(key): /??md/
• (obsolete) IPA^(key): /????m?d/

Etymology 1

arm (“to equip with a weapon”) +? -ed.

Adjective

armed (comparative more armed, superlative most armed)

1. (sometimes in combination) Equipped, especially with a weapon.

2. (of a weapon) Prepared for use; loaded.
3. (obsolete) Furnished with whatever serves to add strength, force, or efficiency.
   • 1722, Daniel Defoe, A Journal of the Plague Year

     a distemper eminently armed from heaven

   • 1821, Sir William Herschel, Catalogue of Double Stars

     The naked eye then will immediately direct us, by means of the two stars just mentioned, towards the place where, in the finder, the armed eye will perceive the double star in question about ¾ degree from the 44th Lyncis.

4. (botany) Having prickles or thorns.

Derived terms

• armed conflict
• armed forces
• armed response
• armed robbery
• armed to the teeth
• unarmed

Translations

Verb

armed

1. simple past tense and past participle of arm

Etymology 2

arm (“the upper limb of the body”) +? -ed.

Adjective

armed (not comparable)

1. (chiefly in combination) Having an arm or arms, often of a specified number or type.
2. (of a creature) Possessing arms of a specified number or type.

   the four-armed creature.

   the strong-armed man.

   • 1634, attributed to John Fletcher and William Shakespeare, The Two Noble Kinsmen

     His shoulders broad and strong, / Armed long and round.

3. (heraldry, of animals) Having horns, claws, teeth, a beak, etc. in a particular tincture, as contrasted with that of the animal as a whole.

Derived terms

• one-armed
• one-armed bandit
• two-armed

Anagrams

• -derma, Mader, ad rem, dearm, derma, derma-, dream, m'dear, medar, ramed, redam

Ladin

Etymology

From Latin arm?tus.

Adjective

armed m (feminine singular armeda, masculine plural armeds, feminine plural armedes)

1. armed

English

Etymology

From Middle French défensif

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /d??f?ns?v/

Adjective

defensive (comparative more defensive, superlative most defensive)

1. Intended for defence; protective.

2. Intended to deter attack.

3. Performed so as to minimise risk.

4. Displaying an inordinate sensitivity to criticism or intrusion; oversensitive; thin-skinned.
5. (cricket) Of a bowling or fielding tactic designed to prevent the other side from scoring runs; of a batting tactic designed to prevent being out.
6. (chiefly sports) Pertaining to defense, as opposed to attack.
7. In a state or posture of defense.

Antonyms

• offensive

Translations

Noun

defensive (plural defensives)

1. A means, attitude or position of defense.

Translations

Related terms

• on the defensive

German

Adjective

defensive

1. inflection of defensiv:
   1. strong/mixed nominative/accusative feminine singular
   2. strong nominative/accusative plural
   3. weak nominative all-gender singular
   4. weak accusative feminine/neuter singular

Latin

Adjective

d?f?ns?ve

1. vocative masculine singular of d?f?ns?vus