Word.ws English Dictionary

armatole

Syllables: ar·ma·tole/ˈɑːmətəʊl/US/ˈɑɹməˌtoʊl/

armatole noun: a Greek armed mercenary who enforced Ottoman rule in Greece from the 15th century onward; during the Greek War of Independence (1821–1832), many armatoloi became pro-independence guerrilla fighters opposed to Ottoman rule.

armatole: a Greek armed mercenary who enforced Ottoman rule in Greece from the 15th century onward; during...
Image: Richard Parkes Bonington, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun (1)

armatole (plural armatoles or armatoli)

  1. (historical) A Greek armed mercenary who enforced Ottoman rule in Greece from the 15th century onward; during the Greek War of Independence (1821–1832), many armatoloi became pro-independence guerrilla fighters opposed to Ottoman rule.
    • [page 159] These [the Klephtai] are either Greeks whose ancestors taking refuge in the mountains when the Turks first conquered the country, have transmitted to them hereditary persecution and liberty; or Armatoloi (a sort of Grecian militia, originally established in Thessaly, armed for their own...1824 July, “Art. VII. Histoire de la Régénération de la Grèce, par F[rançois] C[harles] H[ugues] L[aurent] Pouqueville. 4 tomes. Paris, 1824. [et al.]”, in The Westminster Review, volume II, number...
    • The rank of captain was hereditary; and the profession of an Armatòle probably descendible. The members composing each band were called Pallikàrs: a term for which we have no English equivalent, but which nearly answers to the French expression "des braves." Of these, the first, or Protopalikar...1825, “Preface”, in Charles Brinsley Sheridan, transl., The Songs of Greece, from the Romaic Text, Edited by M. C[laude] Fauriel, with Additions. Translated into English Verse, London: Printed for...

Noun (2) capitalized: Armatole

Armatole (plural Armatoles)

  1. Alternative letter-case form of armatole.

Forms of armatole

pluralarmatoles
pluralarmatoli
alternative formArmatole
alternative formarmatolos
pluralArmatoles

Origin of armatole

Borrowed from Greek αρματολός (armatolós), alternative form of αρματόλογος (armatólogos, “a person concerned or involved with arms or weapons”), from άρματα (ármata) (plural of άρμα (árma, “weapon”), from Byzantine Greek ἄρμα (árma), from Latin arma (“armour, defensive arms, shields, weapons of war”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂(e)rmos (“fitting”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂er- (“to join”)) + λόγος (lógos, “subject matter”) (from Ancient Greek λόγος (lógos), from λέγω (légō, “to say”), from Proto-Indo-European *leǵ-). The plural form armatoloi and possibly armatoli are from the Greek plural form αρματολοί (armatoloí).

Questions about armatole

What does armatole mean?
Armatole means a Greek armed mercenary who enforced Ottoman rule in Greece from the 15th century onward; during the Greek War of Independence (1821–1832), many armatoloi became pro-independence guerrilla fighters opposed to Ottoman rule.
What part of speech is armatole?
Armatole is a noun.
How do you pronounce armatole?
Armatole is pronounced /ˈɑːmətəʊl/ (UK).
What is the plural of armatole?
The plural of armatole is armatoles.

Words near armatole in the dictionary

  1. armarius
  2. Armatage
  3. Armatha
  4. Armathwaite
  5. Armato
  6. armatole
  7. armatoles
  8. armatoli
  9. armatoliki
  10. armatolikia
  11. armatoloi

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: armatole (page history and authors); Armatole (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-armatole.wav.

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