[1580–90; armor + -ist]This word is first recorded in the period 1580–90. Other words that entered Englishat around the same time include: cockpit, filibuster, humanist, reference, stigma-ist is a suffix of nouns, often corresponding to verbs ending in -ize or nouns ending in -ism, that denote a person who practices or is concerned with something, or holds certainprinciples, doctrines, etc. Other words that use the affix -ist include: Thomist, machinist, novelist, realist, socialist