Apollonius Soph., Lexicon homericum, p. 159 (καὶ γὰρ οἱ νεώτεροι λέγονται ὁπλότεροι ἀπὸ τοῦ νικητικοὶ εἶναι ἐν τοῖς ὅπλοις); D Schol. Il. 4.325 (Ὁπλότεροι. Νεώτεροι. ὅπλα φέρειν δυνάμενοι.); Porphyrius, Quaestionum homericarum ad Iliadem pertinentes reliquiae, ad 14.275 (τούτου οὖν ἐν εἴδει ὁ ὁπλότερος, ὁ φέρειν μᾶλλον ὅπλον δυνάμενος); Etym. Gudianum, omicron, p. 432 (Ὁπλοτέρων, ἀντὶ τοῦ νεωτέρων· ποίου εἴδους τῶν παραγώγων; συγκριτικοῦ· τῇ δὲ φωνῇ ἀντὶ τοῦ ἁπλοῦ παραλαμβάνεται· καὶ γίνεται παρὰ τὸ ὅπλον, ὁ μᾶλλον ὅπλα φέρειν δυνάμενος, ὡς καὶ τὸν γέροντα.); Etym. Gudianum Additamenta, epsilon, p. 504 (Ἐπικουρεῖν· ἡ ἐπί πρόθεσις τὸ δέον δηλοῖ· ἐπικουρεῖν, τὸ ποιεῖν τὸ προσῆκον τοῖς κούροις, ὡς καὶ τὸ <Δ 324 sq.> „αἰχμὰς δ’ αἰχμάσσουσι νεώτεροι, <οἵ περ ἐμεῖο ὁπλότεροι>“. καὶ ὁπλότεροι, οἱ ὅπλα βαστάζειν δυνάμενοι); Eustathius, Comm. Il. 1, 111 Van der Valk (ὁπλῖται μέντοι μεθ’ Ὅμηρον ἀπὸ γενικοῦ ὀνόματος τῶν ὅπλων ἐκλήθησαν, ὥσπερ καὶ ὁπλότεροι οἱ νέοι καὶ ὑπέροπλοι οἱ αὐθάδεις); ibid., 1, 136 (Σημείωσαι δὲ ὅτι ὁπλότατον μὲν καὶ ὁπλότερον ὁ ποιητὴς λέγει τὸν νέον καὶ ὅπλα αἴρειν δυνάμενον οὐκ ἐπὶ ψόγῳ τὴν λέξιν τιθείς· τὸ δὲ ὑπέροπλος καὶ τὰ ἐξ αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ σκώμματι λαμβάνεται); ibid., 1, 614 (Ὁπλότεροι δὲ ἁπλῶς μὲν οἱ νέοι καὶ ὅπλα αἴρειν δυνάμενοι. ἐκεῖθεν δὲ καὶ ἐπὶ ψόγῳ ὑπέροπλος καὶ ὑπεροπλίζεσθαι τὸ καταθρασύνεσθαι); ibid., 1, 756 (Ὁπλότεροι δὲ οὐ μόνον οἱ νεώτεροι, ἀλλὰ μάλιστα οἱ μάχιμοι καὶ ὅπλα αἴρειν δυνάμενοι, ἔτι δὲ καὶ οἱ ἁπλῶς ἐργατικοὶ καὶ ἐνεργεῖς. ὅπλα γὰρ πάσης τέχνης τὰ ἐργαλεῖα καὶ ὁπλίζεσθαι τὸ εἰς ἔργον ἑτοιμάζεσθαι); ibid., 3, 64 (ὅθεν καὶ ὁπλότερον ἡ ποίησις τὸν νέον λέγει, ὡς ὅπλοις προσήκοντα); Etym. Magnum, Kallierges, p. 628 (Ὁπλότεροι: Οἱ νέοι, οἱ μᾶλλον ὅπλα φέρειν δυνάμενοι, ὡς τὸ, ‘Αἰχμὰς δ’ αἰχμάσσουσι νεώτεροι, [οἵπερ ἐμοῖο | ὁπλότεροι γεγάασι’.] Οἱ γὰρ προβεβηκότες τούτων ἀπηλλάγησαν· Ὅμηρος, ‘Γήραϊ δὴ πολέμοιο πεπαυμένοι’. Ἀπὸ τῶν ὅπλων οὖν ὁπλότεροι· ἐπεὶ πρὸς ὅπλωνcἀναίρεσιν εἰσὶν ἐπιτήδειοι, ὡς πρὸς τοὺς γέροντας); Etym. Symeonis, epsilon 631 (Ὅμηρος· αἰχμὰς δ’ αἰχμάσσουσι νεώτεροι· οἵ τινες καὶ ὁπλότεροι καλοῦνται οἱ μᾶλλον ὅπλον φέρειν δυνάμενοι); Tzetzes, Chiliades, 9.279, l. 679–681 (Ὁπλότερος κυρίως μὲν ὁ νέος στρατιώτης, ἤτοι πολεμικώτερος, ἀπὸ τοῦ ὅπλα φέρειν, καταχρηστικωτέρως δε ὁπλότερος πᾶς νέος); Ps.-Zonaras, Lexicon, omicron, p. 1458 (Ὁπλότεροι. οἱ νεώτεροι. ἐπεὶ πρὸς ὅπλων ἀναίρεσιν εἰσίν. ἀπὸ τῶν ὅπλων οὖν ὁπλότεροι); Scholia in Aristophanem, Pax 1271 (ὁπλοτέρους] παρὰ τὸ ὅπλον παίζει); Schol. Od. 9.276 Dindorf (τούτοις οὖν ἐν εἴδει καὶ ὁπλότερος ὁ φέρειν μᾶλλον ὅπλον δυνάμενος)

The etymology is implicit in Theocritus, Id. 22.175-176 (νῶι δ’, ἐγὼ Λυγκεύς τε, διακρινώμεθ’ Ἄρηι, | ὁπλοτέρω γεγαῶτε "let Ares decide between the two of us, Lynceus and me, as we are younger / more warlike": the presence of Ares implies that the word is understood as referring to weapons). It is also implicit in Oracula Sibyllina 14.69-73 (ἀλλ’ ὁπόταν βασιλεὺς ἰδίῃ μοίρῃ καταλύσῃ | λείψας ὁπλοτέροις σκῆπτρον βασιλήιον υἱοῖς | καὶ θέμιν ἀντιβολῶν, οἳ δ’ αὐτίκα πατρὸς ἐφετμῶν | λησάμενοι καὶ χεῖρας ἐφοπλίσσαντες Ἄρηι | εἰς ἔριν ὁρμήσουσιν ὑπὲρ βασιληίδος ἀρχῆς, "but when, by his own fate, a king dies, leaving his royal scepter to his younger sons and getting the due honours, those right afterwards forget their father's orders and taking arms with Ares will rush to the fight over royal power", with an etymological figura ὁπλοτέροις… ἐφοπλίσσαντες).

There may already be an implicit etymology in Il. 4.324–325 αἰχμὰς δ’ αἰχμάσσουσι νεώτεροι, οἵ περ ἐμεῖο | ὁπλότεροι γεγάασι πεποίθασίν τε βίηφιν "The young spearmen shall do the spear-fighting, those who are born of a generation later than mine, who trust in their own strength" (transl. Lattimore). But this is not certain. However, it is clear that these lines were used as an argument by lexicographers who derive ὁπλότερος from ὅπλον (see above).