military

American  

[mil-i-ter-ee] / ˈmɪl ɪˌtɛr i /

adjective

1. of, for, or pertaining to the army or armed forces, often as distinguished from the navy.

   from civilian to military life.

2. of, for, or pertaining to war.

   military preparedness.

3. of or relating to soldiers.

   Synonyms:

   martial, soldierly

4. befitting, characteristic of, or noting a soldier.

   a military bearing.

5. following the life of a soldier.

   a military career.

6. performed by soldiers.

   military duty.

---

noun

plural

militaries, military

1. the military,

   1. the military establishment of a nation; the armed forces.

   2. military personnel, especially commissioned officers, taken collectively.

      the bar, the press, and the military.

military British  

/ ˈmɪlɪtərɪ, -trɪ /

adjective

1. of or relating to the armed forces (esp the army), warlike matters, etc

2. of, characteristic of, or about soldiers

---

noun

1. the armed services (esp the army)

Other Word Forms

• antimilitary adjective
• militarily adverb
• militariness noun
• nonmilitary adjective
• premilitary adjective
• promilitary adjective
• pseudomilitarily adverb
• pseudomilitary adjective
• quasi-military adjective
• supermilitary adjective
• unmilitarily adverb
• unmilitary adjective

Etymology

Origin of military

1575–85; < Latin mīlitāri ( s ), equivalent to mīlit- (stem of mīles ) soldier + -āris -ary

Related Words

• army
• force
• navy
• service
• troop