militia

American  

[mi-lish-uh] / mɪˈlɪʃ ə /

noun

• militias
  plural

1. a body of citizens enrolled for military service, and called out periodically for drill but serving full time only in emergencies.

2. a body of citizen soldiers as distinguished from professional soldiers.

3. all able-bodied males considered by law eligible for military service.

4. a body of citizens organized in a paramilitary group and typically regarding themselves as defenders of individual rights against the presumed interference of the federal government.

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militia British  

/ mɪˈlɪʃə /

noun

1. a body of citizen (as opposed to professional) soldiers

2. an organization containing men enlisted for service in emergency only

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• militias
  plural

Etymology

Origin of militia

1580–90; < Latin mīlitia soldiery, equivalent to mīlit- (stem of mīles ) soldier + -ia -ia

Explanation

If you live in a remote place that's under attack by an upstart band of thieves, start a militia. A militia is a band of civilians trained to do army type business, without officially joining the army. Militia comes from mīlet-, Latin for "soldier," but the word now refers to a band of fighters who aren't officially soldiers. Sometimes militias add on to regular army forces, like the citizen's militias who fought alongside regular troops in the Revolutionary War. But you'll frequently hear militia if you're listening to news about dangerously violent parts of the world where, instead of voting for change, groups form militias and fight for political power. It's also a verb: to militia.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

militia militias

The fighting around Lalibela has involved the army and an Amhara militia that has allied with Tigrayan fighters.

From BBC ● Sep. 30, 2026

At Baghdad’s airport, a portrait of Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, a militia commander killed in the same 2020 strike, awaits visitors outside the arrivals hall.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 30, 2026

At age eighteen, he joined the Wiltshire militia in 1807.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 7, 2026

An “autodefensa,” or armed member of the town’s militia, checks a vehicle’s paperwork at one of the barricades erected to protect San Ángel Zurumucapio,.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 6, 2026

When he came upon a town, he would have known exactly whose door to knock on, who the local militia leader was, who the key players in town were.

From "The Tipping Point" by Malcolm Gladwell

But federal forces and pro-government militias have pushed them back and are heading north towards the capital, Mekelle, having seized the city's airport on Friday.

From Barron's ● Oct. 3, 2026

A previous confrontation in 2017 between those militias and Iraqi Kurdish forces, known as the peshmerga, ended with the Kurds having to back down.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 30, 2026

Saudi Arabia also accused them of an attack that shut down its east-west pipeline, a charge the militias deny.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 30, 2026

Meanwhile, the airline continues to make appearances at key moments for Iran and its regional militias.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 8, 2026

Often we were on the move at night, when it was cooler and harder for any militias that might be around to spot us.

From "Lost Boy, Lost Girl" by John Bul Dau