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What's a word that means "thing that is held or worn during battle to protect oneself from injury and/or to inflict injury on others"?

To better explain this question, allow me to give an analogy. Foxes, squirrels, whales, and kangaroos are all mammals. The word "mammal" is the classification that contains with it those previously mentioned four animals.

What would the word be that includes swords, daggers, breastplate, shields, helmets, etc.?

The way I want to use this word is in the following sentence:

"Today, we will be studying medieval French ___, starting first with swords and other handheld weapons, continuing to shields and other handheld items used for defense, and finishing up with armor that is worn for defense, such as helms and breastplates."

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    I would say armament.
    – Weather Vane
    Commented Feb 22, 2022 at 20:22
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    Not one word, but arms and armour?
    – Kate Bunting
    Commented Feb 22, 2022 at 20:29
  • @WeatherVane YES! THANK YOU SO MUCH!
    – MagicalHacker
    Commented Feb 22, 2022 at 20:48

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Thank you to @Chain_Commander on Twitter for providing the correct answer: https://twitter.com/Chain_Commander/status/1496222775954006018

The answer is armament.

See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_traditional_armaments for examples.

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Swords, daggers, breastplate, shields, helmets, they're all weapons.

"Today, we will be studying medieval French weaponry, starting first with swords and other handheld weapons."

weaponry weapons considered as a group, weapons regarded collectively

Some of the weapons mentioned, shields and gauntlets for instance, were not only "defensive weapons" They were used not only to block strikes and missiles but also swung outwardly (or in quick upward motions) to strike an opponent. Also used to rush an opponent (known as shield bashing). Some shields had spikes, sharp edges, or other offensive designs. From Wikipedia

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  • Wow, I like this one too! I feel like Weaponry has more an attack-related connotation than armament, but what would you say?
    – MagicalHacker
    Commented Feb 22, 2022 at 20:47
  • I would not include shields and helmets in the category of weaponry. A weapon is something whose primary purpose and function is to inflict damage. Shields and helmets are primarily for avoiding or reducing damage. They may be designed to also inflict damage when possible or opportune (e.g. shields with spikes, bucklers with a cutting edge), but those are not central to their nature.
    – Hellion
    Commented Feb 22, 2022 at 21:01
  • @Hellion Helmets, shields and gauntlets are considered weapons defensive weapons but can inflict damage too.
    – Centaurus
    Commented Feb 23, 2022 at 0:54
  • @Centaurus quoting from your linked page: "While armor is not technically a weapon, its use was driven by weapon technology and was a driving force in weapon development."
    – Hellion
    Commented Feb 23, 2022 at 13:24

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