Character Rong

It means weapons, warfare, or a historical western ethnonym.

The earliest evidence here is an oracle-bone place-name use; in the ancient inscription record, bronze examples use 戎 for military matters. The form joins 戈, a dagger-axe, with the old form of 盾, a shield, making armed equipment the character's semantic starting point.

That military core widened to soldiers, armies, war, and military vehicles. Later historical writing also used 戎 in 西戎 and 戎狄 for peoples described as west of the central states.

Does 戎 mean weapons or a western people?

Context decides: military compounds and historical ethnonyms differ.

In 戎装, 戎马, 戎车, and 投笔从戎, it keeps the military reading: martial dress, military affairs, or entering military service. In 西戎 and 戎狄, it instead names people through an old state-centered vocabulary.

Treat that second use as historical, not as a neutral label for a present-day population. “Barbarian” is a common translation, but “Rong” or “western peoples” can preserve more of the original context.