enlistment

[en-list-muhnt]

noun

1. the period of time for which one is committed to military service.

2. an act of enlisting.

Other Word Forms

• preenlistment noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of enlistment¹

First recorded in 1740–50; enlist + -ment

Example Sentences

Nevertheless, it was given credit for a modest enlistment bump that year.

Read more on Salon

The enlistment office rang her a month later to say he had died on 11 February.

Read more on BBC

"He said, 'You can either burn down a military enlistment office, set fire to a military vehicle or sabotage a Ukrainian Railways electrical box.'"

Read more on BBC

Though it is described in a title as “the least important U.S. Army base in the world,” you could do worse than spend your enlistment working in a fromagerie.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Cruise's lead role in the 1986 smash hit Top Gun shot him into celebrity status, and the film's record-breaking success spiked military enlistment.

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• enrollment 
• recruitment