Adjacent Words

Militia definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

MILI'TIA, n. [L. from miles, a soldier; Gr. war, to fight, combat, contention. The primary sense of fighting is to strive, struggle, drive, or to strike, to beat, Eng. moil, L. molior; Heb. to labor or toil.] The body of soldiers in a state enrolled for discipline, but not engaged in actual service except in emergencies; as distinguished from regular troops, whose sole occupation is war or military service. The militia of a country are the able bodied men organized into companies, regiments and brigades,with officers of all grades, and required by law to attend military exercises on certain days only, but at other times left to pursue their usual occupations.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: civilians trained as soldiers but not part of the regular army [syn: militia, reserves]
2: the entire body of physically fit civilians eligible by law for military service; "their troops were untrained militia"; "Congress shall have power to provide for calling forth the militia"--United States Constitution

Merriam Webster's

noun Etymology: Latin, military service, from milit-, miles Date: 1625 1. a. a part of the organized armed forces of a country liable to call only in emergency b. a body of citizens organized for military service 2. the whole body of able-bodied male citizens declared by law as being subject to call to military service

Britannica Concise

Military organization of citizens with limited military training who are available for emergency service, usually for local defense. In many countries the militia is of ancient origin. The Anglo-Saxons required every able-bodied free male to serve. In colonial America, it was the only defense against hostile Indians when regular British forces were not available. In the Amer. Revolution, the militia, called the Minutemen, provided the bulk of the Amer. forces. Militias played a similar role in the War of 1812 and the Amer. Civil War. State-controlled volunteer militias in the U.S. became the National Guard. The U.S. in recent decades has seen a rise in so-called civilian or unorganized militias, paramilitary organizations of uncertain legal status whose members profess to be patriots training to protect the U.S. from threats to its sovereignty from within and without. Many have white-supremacist leanings, and some have been implicated in terrorist attacks (incl. the 1995 bombing of Oklahoma City's federal building). Some find justification for their actions in perceived persecution by the U.S. government.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. a military force, esp. one raised from the civil population and supplementing a regular army in an emergency. Etymology: L, = military service f. miles militis soldier

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Militia Mi*li"tia, n. [L., military service, soldiery, fr. miles, militis, soldier: cf. F. milice.] 1. In the widest sense, the whole military force of a nation, including both those engaged in military service as a business, and those competent and available for such service; specifically, the body of citizens enrolled for military instruction and discipline, but not subject to be called into actual service except in emergencies. The king's captains and soldiers fight his battles, and yet . . . the power of the militia is he. --Jer. Taylor. 2. Military service; warfare. [Obs.] --Baxter.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(militias) A militia is an organization that operates like an army but whose members are not professional soldiers. The troops will not attempt to disarm the warring militias. N-COUNT

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. Trainband.