firepower
Word family
Synonym discussion
Sense: noun/1
These four words all relate to a fighting force's weapons but differ in scope and register. Firepower is the most practical term, focusing on the combined destructive capacity of all the guns and other weapons a force can bring to a battle — it answers 'how hard can they hit?' Armament is more formal and engineering-flavoured; it points to the actual weapons fitted to a ship, plane, or unit, rather than to what they can do in combat. Weaponry is the everyday collective noun for the weapons themselves, again with less emphasis on combat capability. Military might is the broadest term and includes troops, equipment, training, and strategy — a country's whole armed strength. So a small navy may have advanced weaponry yet limited firepower, while a major power has overwhelming military might.
Common collocations
Nouns
- firepower advantage
- firepower superiority
Phrases
- lack of firepower
- concentration of firepower
- show of firepower
Prepositions
- of (the firepower of the fleet)
- over (firepower over the enemy)
Etymology
A compound of 'fire' (in the military sense of discharging weapons, dating back to the use of gunpowder in the 16th century) and 'power' (capacity to act). The combined word appeared in English military writing in the early 20th century, when industrial-scale warfare made it useful to talk about the combined destructive output of many weapons at once rather than counting individual guns.