armistice

Syllables: ar·mis·ticeUK/ˈɑːmɪstɪs//ˈɑɹmɪstɪs/

armistice noun: a (short) cessation of combat. Also the alternative letter-case form of Armistice.

Noun

armistice (plural armistices)

(countable) A (short) cessation of combat.
- 135. An armistice is the cessation of active hostilities for a period agreed upon between belligerents. It must be agreed upon in writing, and duly ratified by the highest authorities of the contending parties.
- 136. If an armistice be declared, without conditions, it extends no further than to require a total cessation of hostilities, along the front of both belligerents.1863 April 24, Francis Lieber, “Instructions for the Government of Armies of the United States in the Field [General Order No. 100]”, in General Orders Affecting the Volunteer Force (Adjutant...
Synonyms:

ceasefire, truce
(countable) A formal agreement, especially between nations, to end combat.
- The Fifth Volume of this Collection makes its appearance at the moſt eventful period of the war—it includes, therefore, matter of the higheſt importance, and contains all the official documents reſpecting the late Negotiation—the war between this country and Spain, the progreſs of the French arms...1797, “Preface”, in John Debrett, compiler, A Collection of State Papers, Relative to the War against France now Carrying on by Great Britain and the Several Other European Powers; […], volume V...
- The government of Great-Britain lost no time after the war was known, in making to our cabinet proposals for an armistice. Those proposals were like all propositions between equal states, perfectly reciprocal. They require of us to suspend hostilities only, in consideration of suspending...1813, [John Lowell Jr.], “No. IV. The Several Proposals for an Armistice Considered.”, in Perpetual War, the Policy of Mr. Madison. […], Boston, Mass.: Printed by C[hester] Stebbins, →OCLC, page 17

Proper noun capitalized: Armistice

Armistice

The armistice agreement signed between the Allies and Germany on 11 November 1918 to end World War I; (by extension) the end of World War I.
- [W]hat was to be the future policy of the Associated Governments in regard to the renewal of the Armistice: should the Armistice constantly be renewed, with new clauses and new conditions, or were the final naval and military terms to be drawn up immediately and imposed on the enemy.1928, David Hunter Miller, “Supreme War Council, February 12, 1919”, in The Drafting of the Covenant, volume 2, New York, N.Y.; London: G. P. Putnam's Sons […], →OCLC, page 165
- The armistice of November 1918 could represent many things: the end of the war, the victory. But for the Carnard [the newspaper Le Canard enchaîné], first and foremost, it represented dissention among the French. […] After the armistice and the emergence of the first difficulties of the peace, many...2002, Allen Douglas, “Web of Memory”, in War, Memory, and the Politics of Humor: The Canard Enchaîné and World War I, Berkeley; Los Angeles, Calif.; London: University of California Press, →ISBN...

Also used as

armistice is also the alternative letter-case form of Armistice.

armistice meaning in Hindi, Urdu, Bengali and Arabic

armistice in Hindi

(short) cessation of combat — see also ceasefire, truce: समझौता samjhautā, युद्धविराम yuddhavirām
formal agreement to end combat: युद्धविराम yuddhavirām, संधि sandhi

armistice in Bengali

formal agreement to end combat: অস্ত্রবিরতি ostrobiroti

armistice in Arabic

(short) cessation of combat — see also ceasefire, truce: هُدْنَة hudna
formal agreement to end combat: هُدْنَة hudna, وَقْفُ نَار waqfu nār

More languagesFewer languages

armistice in Malay: peletakan senjata
armistice in Indonesian: peletakan senjata
armistice in Vietnamese: đình chiến, hưu chiến

Examples of armistice in a sentence

It has also become routine to interrupt wars in more lasting fashion by imposing armistices.2002, Edward N[icolae] Luttwak, “The Coming Together of Opposites”, in Strategy: The Logic of War and Peace, revised and enlarged edition...
The government of Great-Britain lost no time after the war was known, in making to our cabinet proposals for an armistice.1813, [John Lowell Jr.], “No. IV. The Several Proposals for an Armistice Considered.”, in Perpetual War, the Policy of Mr. Madison. […]...
Three days earlier the French, British and Americans had prepared an armistice document which they demanded the Germans accept within three days.2003, John Malam, “The Day Armistice was Signed”, in Mary-Jane Wilkins, editor, 11 November 1918: The World War I Armistice (Dates with...

Synonyms of armistice

Forms of armistice

Noun
plural	armistices
Proper noun
alternative form	armistice

Plural of armistice: armistices

Origin of armistice

From Late Latin armistitium, from Latin arma (“arms, weapons”) + sistēre (from sistō (“to halt, stand still”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *steh₂- (“to stand up”)) + -ium (suffix forming abstract nouns). The word is cognate with French armistice, Italian armistizio, Portuguese armistício, Spanish armisticio.

See armistice.

Words formed from armistice

Armistice Day

Questions about armistice

What does armistice mean?: Armistice means a (short) cessation of combat.
What is armistice in Hindi?: Armistice in Hindi is समझौता (samjhautā), युद्धविराम (yuddhavirām), संधि (sandhi). See Armistice meaning in Hindi.
How do you use armistice in a sentence?: It has also become routine to interrupt wars in more lasting fashion by imposing armistices.
What part of speech is armistice?: Armistice can be a noun or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce armistice?: Armistice is pronounced /ˈɑːmɪstɪs/ (UK).
What is the plural of armistice?: The plural of armistice is armistices.

Words near armistice in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: armistice (page history and authors); Armistice (page history and authors); armistice (Urdu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). 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.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-armistice.ogg, LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-Armistice.wav.

Cite this entry: “armistice.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/armistice. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.