English

Noun

hoplology ‎(uncountable)

1. The study of the methods, behaviour, and technology involved in human combat, particularly weapons and armour.
   • 1891, Anonymous, "Wandsworth: The Sword House", Notes and Queries, 7 March 1891:

     Some students of hoplology, the science of l'arme blanche (the sword), in the neighbourhood of my residence have entreated me to invoke the invaluable aid of 'N. & Q.' in matters of archæology to endeavour to trace the missing weapons.

   • 1987, Paul Nurse, "Pankration: The Bloody, Brutal Art of Ancient Greece", Black Belt, September 1987:

     It has often been a public misconception that the words "martial arts" refer to something exclusively Asian in nature. But history and hoplology (the science of weaponry and related combative systems) tell us that no race on the face of the earth has ever lacked for fighting techniques, […]

   • 2008, T. J. Desch Obi, Fighting for Honor: The History of African Martial Arts in the Atlantic World, University of South Carolina Press (2008), ISBN 9781570037184, page 61:

     In his seminal work that made him the doyen of modern hoplology, Sir Richard Burton traces the spread of various arms and armaments of the world to ancient Egypt.

Derived terms

• hoplological
• hoplologist