What does antitank mean?
"Antitank" is an adjective describing anything designed to destroy or disable tanks and other armored fighting vehicles — from shoulder-fired rockets and guided missiles to large-caliber guns, mines, ditches, and dedicated tactics. It is formed from the Greek-derived prefix "anti-" (against) combined with "tank," the British code name that stuck after First World War engineers disguised early armored vehicles as water carriers. The word belongs firmly to military and technical language: it appears most often attributively in phrases such as "antitank missile," "antitank gun," or "antitank ditch," and it surfaces in news reporting whenever armored warfare is discussed. Because tanks reshaped twentieth-century combat, an entire vocabulary of countermeasures grew around them, and "antitank" names that category as a whole. For readers, it is a compact example of how prefixes like "anti-" generate precise technical terms — alongside cousins such as "antiaircraft" and "antipersonnel" — each naming a weapon class defined by its target.
adjectiveDesigned for or directed against tanks; used to describe weapons, missiles, guns, or tactics intended to destroy or disable armored fighting vehicles.
- (of a weapon, missile, gun, or obstacle) designed to destroy or disable tanks and other armored vehicles
"The army deployed antitank missiles along the ridge to stop the advancing armor."
"Soldiers carried portable antitank launchers during the operation."
"A wide antitank ditch protected the eastern flank of the position."
The word 'tank' itself was a code name — the British called early armored vehicles 'water tanks' to keep them secret, so 'antitank' is literally a weapon named against a decoy.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of antitank
The word combines "anti-", a Greek-origin prefix meaning "against" or "opposed to," with "tank," a term born in the First World War when the British masked their new armored landships as "water tanks" on shipping manifests. As tanks proved decisive on the battlefield, dedicated countermeasures emerged between the wars, and "antitank" arose naturally to label them. It follows the same productive pattern as other military coinages such as "antiaircraft" and "antipersonnel."
How antitank is actually used
Almost always used attributively before a noun (antitank missile, antitank gun) rather than standing alone. Predominantly military and technical register; rare in everyday civilian speech outside news coverage of armed conflict.
Easily confused with antitank
Despite the similar opening letters, 'antique' refers to an old and valuable object, while 'antitank' describes weaponry designed to destroy tanks.