An armistice is a formal agreement between opposing sides in a war to stop fighting, usually temporarily, without technically ending the state of war itself.

Basic meaning

  • An armistice is an agreement to suspend active hostilities between two or more warring parties.
  • It can halt fighting in a specific area (local armistice) or across the whole conflict (general armistice).

How it differs from peace

  • An armistice usually stops the shooting but does not legally end the war; the state of war still exists in law.
  • A peace treaty, by contrast, formally ends the war and settles political and territorial issues, which an armistice by itself does not do.

Word origin

  • The word comes from Latin roots: arma meaning “weapons” and sistere meaning “to come to a stop,” so it literally suggests weapons coming to a halt.
  • In everyday English, people often use armistice to mean a truce or a pause in conflict, especially in a military context.

Famous example

  • A well‑known example is the Armistice of 11 November 1918, which ended the fighting in World War I on the Western Front, even though a formal peace treaty (the Treaty of Versailles) came later.

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