Militant

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈmɪlɪtÉ™nt/

Origin

From Middle French militant, from Latin mīlitāns, present participle of mīlitāre ("to serve as a soldier").

Full definition of militant

Adjective

1. Fighting or disposed to fight; belligerent, warlike. from 15th c.
• 2012, Christopher Clark, The Sleepwalkers, Penguin 2013, p. 394:The upper tiers of the foreign ministry were quick to embrace a militant policy.
2. Aggressively supporting of a political or social cause; adamant, combative. from 17th c.

Noun

1. (obsolete) A soldier, a combatant. 17th-19th c.
2. An entrenched or aggressive adherent to a particular cause, now especially a member of a particular ideological faction. from 19th c.
• 2008, , Wikinews:Officials in Pakistan have confirmed that at least 250 schoolchildren between 12 and 18 years old and several teachers were taken hostage by at least seven militants inside a high school in Domail.
3. Specifically, someone who supports the Trotskyite political view expressed in the newspaper Militant, or who engages in aggressive left-wing politics. from 20th c.

Derived terms

• Militant Tendency
• ultramilitant

Related terms

• military
• militia