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militate

 - 3 dictionary results

mil⋅i⋅tate

  [mil-i-teyt]
Use militate in a Sentence
–verb (used without object), -tat⋅ed, -tat⋅ing.
1. to have a substantial effect; weigh heavily: His prison record militated against him.
2. Obsolete.
a. to be a soldier.
b. to fight for a belief.
Origin:
1615–25; < L mīlitātus (ptp. of mīlitāre to serve as a soldier), equiv. to mīlit- (s. of mīles) soldier + -ātus -ate 1

Related forms:
mil⋅i⋅ta⋅tion, noun

Usage note:
See mitigate.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To militate
mil·i·tate   (mĭl'ĭ-tāt')   
intr.v.   mil·i·tat·ed, mil·i·tat·ing, mil·i·tates
To have force or influence; bring about an effect or a change: "All these factors militated to a different targeting priority" (Tom Clancy). "The chaste banality of his prose . . . militates against the stories' becoming literature" (Anthony Burgess).

[Latin mīlitāre, mīlitāt-, to serve as a soldier, from mīles, mīlit-, soldier.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

militate 
1625, "to serve as a soldier," from L. militatum, pp. of militare "serve as a soldier," from miles "soldier" (see military). Sense developed via "conflict with," to "be evidence" (for or against), 1642.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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