What does equip mean?
To equip is to supply a person, place, or organization with whatever is needed for a specific task or purpose — whether that means tools and machinery, protective gear, or, figuratively, skills and knowledge. A hospital may be equipped with modern imaging technology; a hiker is equipped with boots and a map; a rigorous education equips graduates to handle complex problems. The verb carries a practical, purposeful connotation: what is supplied is not arbitrary but matched to a goal. It is standard in both British and American English and appears frequently in technical, military, educational, and everyday registers, often in the passive construction 'be equipped with.' Its derivatives include the noun 'equipment' and the adjectives 'equipped' and 'well-equipped.' Interestingly, the word has nautical roots — it entered English in the early seventeenth century via French, ultimately from an Old Norse source meaning 'ship,' so its earliest sense was literally fitting out a vessel for sea. That history of preparation still echoes in the word's modern sense of making something ready.
To supply a person or place with the things needed for a particular purpose; to furnish with equipment.
"The rescue team was equipped with thermal cameras and rope gear."
Commonly used in the passive ('be equipped with') and often extended figuratively to skills or qualities.
To prepare or make ready, especially a ship or expedition, for a voyage or undertaking.
"The crown spent months equipping the fleet for its transatlantic voyage."
This older sense survives chiefly in historical or formal contexts.
Equip sails straight from the age of exploration: it originally meant fitting out a ship for sea, and its Old Norse root literally means 'ship'.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of equip
Equip entered English in the early seventeenth century from French équiper, meaning to fit out or rig a ship for sea. The French verb is widely traced back to Old Norse skipa, 'to man or provision a ship,' derived from skip, 'ship' — making English 'equip' and 'ship' distant relatives through Norse influence on Norman French. The sense broadened from ships to any kind of provisioning or preparation over the following centuries.
Related word forms
How equip is actually used
Regular verb but with doubled consonant in inflected forms: equipped, equipping (both British and US spelling). Often used in passive form ('be equipped with') and figuratively about skills or qualities as well as physical objects.