The first step we are going to take in order to know the meaning of the term panoply is to discover its etymological origin. In this case, it must be established that it derives from Greek, specifically from the word “panoply”, which means “collection of weapons” and that it is the result of the sum of three lexical components of said language:
-The element “bread”, which can be translated as “everything”.
-The noun “hoplon”, which is synonymous with “weapon”.
-The suffix “-ia”.
The term can refer to a collection of weapons whose pieces are arranged in order.
According to the Royal Spanish Academy ( RAE ), panoply has other meanings. This is the name given to the shield where sabers, foils and other types of weapons used in the field of fencing are located.
When a suit of armor is not missing any components and is therefore complete , it is also called a panoply. On the other hand, that same name is given to the branch of archeology that is dedicated to the analysis of armor and hand weapons of antiquity .
The set of clothing that a soldier uses to protect his body during combat can be mentioned as a panoply. This use of the notion began to be more frequent at the end of the 16th century .
An example is the panoply of a citizen-soldier of the so-called City-States of Ancient Greece, known as a hoplite. We have to establish that his aforementioned panoply was made up of the following pieces: cuirass, belly guard, shield, shoulder pad, spear, thigh guard, forearm protection, ankle guard, foot protection, sword and greave. This last piece was the part of the armor that came to cover, to protect it, the area that went from the knee to the base of the foot.
Along these lines we could not forget to mention what is known as the Dendra panoply, which was a military armor from the Mycenaean civilization that was discovered in the archaeological site of Dendra (Greece).
Since it is a group of different pieces or elements , the concept of panoply began to be used with reference to any large collection . A panoply, in this framework, can even be made up of symbolic or non-material issues.
In this way, panoply can be a series of options , alternatives or possibilities . For example: "The government analyzes a panoply of measures that it intends to implement to face the economic crisis and alleviate the situation of the most vulnerable sectors" , "To export this type of products, companies must comply with a panoply of requirements imposed by the authorities” , “Citizens are enraged by the president's panoply of unfulfilled promises” .
In addition to everything indicated, we cannot ignore that La Panoplia de Libros is the name of a company that specializes in the export of books that belong to independent publishers in Spain. It has its headquarters in Madrid and from there it distributes these aforementioned works to any corner of the world.