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2,030 bytes added ,  11:43, 8 June 2011
Created page with 'File:lighterstill.jpg ==Origin== [http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=English#ca._1100-1500_.09THE_MIDDLE_ENGLISH_PERIOD Middle English] wepen, from [http://nordan...'
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==Origin==
[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=English#ca._1100-1500_.09THE_MIDDLE_ENGLISH_PERIOD Middle English] wepen, from [http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=English#ca._600-1100.09THE_OLD_ENGLISH.2C_OR_ANGLO-SAXON_PERIOD Old English] wǣpen; akin to Old High German wāffan weapon, Old Norse vāpn
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/12th_century before 12th Century]
==Definitions==
*1: something (as a club, knife, or gun) used to [[injure]], defeat, or destroy
*2: a means of contending against another
==Description==
A '''weapon''' is a [[tool]] used with the aim of causing damage or harm (either [[physical]] or [[mental]]) to living [[beings]] or [[artificial]] [[structures]] or [[systems]]. In [[human]] [[society]] weapons are used to increase the efficacy and [[efficiency]] of tasks such as [[hunting]], fighting, the committing of [[criminal]] [[acts]], the preserving of [[law]] and order, and the waging of [[war]].

Weapons are employed [[individually]] or [[collectively]]. A weapon can be either expressly [[designed]] as such or an item. re-[[purposed]] through use (for example, hitting someone with a hammer), their form can range from [[simple]] implements such as clubs through to complicated [[modern]] implementations such as [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intercontinental_ballistic_missile intercontinental ballistic missiles] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biological_warfare biological weapons]. Weapon [[development]] has [[progressed]] from early wood or stone clubs through revolutions in metalworking (swords, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mace maces], etc.) and gunpowder (guns, cannon), [[electronic]]s and nuclear [[technology]].

In a broader [[context]], weapons may be construed to include anything used to gain a [[strategic]], [[material]] or mental [[advantage]] over an adversary on [[land]], [[sea]], [[air]], or even outer space.[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weapon]
==See also==
*'''''[[Armor]]'''''
[[Category: General Reference]]