武装

wǔzhuāng · HSK 7

arm

🪖 武 (military) + 装 (equip) = to equip for war, i.e. to arm

武 means military or martial; 装 means to install, load, or equip. Together they mean to arm or armament: outfitting with military gear. The 装 here is the same equip-sense as loading or installing something.

装 — clothes 衣 + strong 壮 (phonetic)
装 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The bottom 衣 ('clothes') gives the meaning, since the original sense was packing or dressing—putting clothes or goods into a bundle. The top 壮 supplies the sound. Meanings extended from 'to dress/attire' to 'to load, install, pretend'.

More Chinese words · How Chinese works