![]() Hoplites were adept fighters who perfected innovative battle strategies, but two of their biggest advantages were the spears and shields they carried and the bronze armor they wore. This use of panoply is fairly rare these days it's a holdover from the days of the ancient Greeks, when the word referred to the combat garb of the heavily-equipped hoplites.Įxample: The director was impressed by the actor's panoply of accents.Įxample: Although I knew my friend was a collector, I hadn't imagined the panoply of stuffed animals that filled his house.Įxample: Bored with what was turning into a pretentious panoply of vocabulary, we ended up walking out of the debate.Įxample: The art museum was known to possess the full panoply of a medieval knight.īefore getting into the story of panoply, a little background: in ancient times (around the 8 th and 7 th centuries B.C.E.), Greek city states were defended by soldiers called hoplites. Rounding out the panoply of definitions (Boooooooo!) is the word's application to describe a full set of arms or suit of armor. Like the panoply of strength conveyed by a bodybuilder performing all sorts of exercises, such a demonstration is usually meant to show off a level of prowess or potential. This kind of panoply involves a display of completeness or enormity that is often given forcefully, boastingly, or grandiosely. This sense of showiness carries over into the slightly different usage of panoply to describe an exhibition of an immense, plenary collection of objects or faculties. A panoply is often understood to be awe-inducing, thrilling, or intimidating due to its sheer size, meaning that when you have one, you'll likely pull it out when you want to make an impression. The thing about such a gigantic, comprehensive collection is that, when brought to bear, it's often quite impressive. Many times, a panoply is understood to be complete as well as just big, an exhaustive set of every variation of something that can be found or imagined. ![]() However, the word can also be used figuratively to refer to things like knowledge and abilities for example, you might wow a game show audience with your panoply of obscure trivia. Most commonly, a panoply is composed of physical objects - think of the multitude of colorful, differently sized plants you'd see in a greenhouse, or the tall shelves stuffed with books that line the walls of a grand library. Such a group is characterized by extensiveness, sure to contain a wider range of items (and more of them) than you'd find anywhere else. And, of course, there's the fun of showing off your set to other people, in a way making it a panoply of your collecting skills.Ī panoply is usually an immense, varied collection of objects that all fit under one category or theme. Seeing all 50 state quarters fitted into their little map, or a thousand bobble heads lined up in tight rows, all ready to wobble at the slightest footstep, can fill a person with a sense of personal accomplishment. But there's also a kind of deep gratification that comes from assembling a panoply of something. Why do many of us like to collect things? Perhaps it's the nostalgia, or the thrill of hunting down that rare or unusual variety you're missing.
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