panoply
noun
William BauckeS. P. B. MaisLewis Mumford
Did you know?
Despite having Greek origins and similar sounds, panoply is not related—etymologically or semantically—to monopoly; its history has more to do with Mediterranean warfare than Mediterranean Avenue. Panoply comes from the Greek word panoplia, which referred to the full suit of armor worn by hoplites, heavily armed infantry soldiers of ancient Greece. Panoplia is a blend of the prefix pan-, meaning “all,” and hopla, meaning “arms” or “armor.” (As you may have guessed, hopla is also an ancestor of hoplite.) Panoply entered English in the early 17th century with its Greek use intact: it referred to a full set of armor—an impressive array, you might say, of protective bits and bobs, from breastplates to brassards. Over time, panoply developed its figurative sense referring to an impressive, extensive collection or array of things, as in “She won the game by bankrupting her opponents with a panoply of properties built up with houses and hotels.”
Examples of panoply in a Sentence
CBS News, 28 June 2024
Money managers have lavished cash on a panoply of would-be diversification strategies.
—Orianna Rosa Royle, Fortune, 22 June 2024
The end of the Cold War unleashed this kind of panoply of nationalisms.
—Isaac Chotiner, The New Yorker, 18 June 2024
And Iran’s panoply of nonstate actors will continue to find purchase among increasingly angry and disenfranchised populations, not only in the Palestinian territories but across the region.
—Maha Yahya, Foreign Affairs, 24 Apr. 2024
See all Example Sentences for panoply 
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'panoply.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near panoply
Cite this Entry
“Panoply.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/panoply. Accessed 7 Jul. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
panoply
noun
Share