disarmamentn.
/dɪsˈɑːməm(ə)nt/, U.S. /ˌdɪsˈɑrməmənt/ 1. The action of disarming; spec. the reduction or abandonment of military capacity or readiness for conflict; the limitation or renunciation by a country or organization of the use or possession of weapons, esp. (in later use) nuclear weapons (cf. disarm v. 5c). Also occasionally: an instance of this.nuclear disarmament, unilateral disarmament: see the first element.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > peace > pacification > disarmament > [noun]
disarming1548
disarmy1548
disarmament1710
disarmature1852
unilateral disarmament1929
1710 D. Jones Compl. Hist. Europe 1709 31 In Consideration of the Disarmament and Promises hereafter mentioned.
1795 E. Burke Corr. IV. 327 If the disarmament had been common to all descriptions of disorderly persons, the measure would have been excellent.
1861 London Rev. & Weekly Jrnl. 20 Apr. 434/2 They propose the disarmament of the country.
1889 B. F. Westcott Let. in Guardian 6 Apr. Such a disarmament would secure the lasting and honourable peace which the leaders of Europe..desire.
1927 Manch. Guardian Weekly 16 Dec. 463/1 While Governments..talk limply of disarmament and peace large numbers of normally inarticulate citizens grow increasingly restive.
1972 L. B. Johnson Vantage Point xx. 462 Nations with nuclear weapons pledged to work toward effective arms control and disarmament.
2017 Times (Nexis) 18 Jan. 30 He indicated that any deal could include dropping western sanctions in return for disarmament.
2. The reduction or elimination of economic impositions, such as tariffs, duties, and taxes. Chiefly with modifying word, as economic disarmament, tariff disarmament.
ΚΠ
1887 Consular Rep. Commerce, Manufactures Sept. 412 The economic, that is, the tariff disarmament combined with the military disarmament of the European nations would at once change the aspect of affairs.
1906 Standard 31 July 6/4 A policy calculated..to prepare the way for economic disarmament.
1963 L. N. Lindberg Polit. Dynamics European Econ. Integration ix. 175 He pointed out that whereas it was legally possible to speed up the rate of tariff and quota disarmament.., it was extremely complicated to shorten the stages as a whole.
1989 P. Mathias & S. Pollard Cambr. Econ. Hist. Europe i. 40 This Anglo-French treaty..led to tariff ‘disarmament’ in continental Europe.
2015 Guardian (Nexis) 1 Sept. This is unilateral economic disarmament that no industrialised country in the world would contemplate.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2017; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1710