armistice

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 11, 2024 is:

armistice • \AHR-muh-stus\ • noun

An armistice is an agreement to stop fighting a war, or in other words, a truce.

// Both sides in the conflict agreed to an armistice.

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Examples:

"The year is 1918, and the armistice is just around the corner, but no one on the front line can possibly know that yet." — Damon Wise, Deadline, 31 Aug. 2024

Did you know?

Armistice comes from the New Latin word armistitium, which in turn combines a stem of the Latin verb sistere, meaning "to make stand, halt, bring to a standstill," with arma, meaning "implements of war, weapons." An armistice, therefore, is literally a cessation of arms. Armistice Day is the name that was given to the holiday celebrated in the United States on November 11 before it was renamed Veterans Day by Congress in 1954. The original name refers to the agreement between the Allied Powers and Germany to end the hostilities that constituted the First World War—an agreement designated to take effect on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month.