Adjacent Words

Militate definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

MIL'ITATE, v.i. [L. milito.] To militate against, is to oppose; to be or to act in opposition.
Paley writes, to militate with; but in America, against is generally used.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

v
1: have force or influence; bring about an effect or change; "Politeness militated against this opinion being expressed"

Merriam Webster's

intransitive verb (-tated; -tating) Etymology: Latin militatus, past participle of militare to engage in warfare, from milit-, miles Date: circa 1600 to have weight or effect <his boyish appearance militated against his getting an early promotion> Usage: see mitigate

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v.intr. (usu. foll. by against) (of facts or evidence) have force or effect (what you say militates against our opinion). Usage: Often confused with mitigate. Etymology: L militare militat- f. miles militis soldier

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Militate Mil"i*tate, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Militated; p. pr. & vb. n. Militating.] [L. militare, militatum, to be a soldier, fr. miles, militis, soldier.] To make war; to fight; to contend; -- usually followed by against and with. These are great questions, where great names militate against each other. --Burke. The invisible powers of heaven seemed to militate on the side of the pious emperor. --Gibbon.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(militates, militating, militated) To militate against something means to make it less possible or likely. To militate against someone means to prevent them from achieving something. (FORMAL) Her background militates against her... We can never promise to sail anywhere in particular, because the weather might militate against it. VERB: V against n, V against n

Moby Thesaurus

act, aid, be effective, be in action, cancel out, count, counter, countervail, discourage, favor, foil, function, further, go, have effect, have free play, have play, help, hinder, militate against, operate, oppose, percolate, perform, perk, play, prevent, promote, resist, run, take effect, tell, tick, work