5 results for: militia

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

mi·li·tia

Audio Help [mi-lish-uh] Pronunciation Key

–noun

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.

[Origin: 1580–90; < L mīlitia soldiery, equiv. to mīlit- (s. of mīles) soldier + -ia -ia

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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
militia

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

mi·li·tia Audio Help (mə-lĭsh'ə) Pronunciation Key
n.

An army composed of ordinary citizens rather than professional soldiers.
A military force that is not part of a regular army and is subject to call for service in an emergency.
The whole body of physically fit civilians eligible by law for military service.

[Latin mīlitia, warfare, military service, from mīles, mīlit-, soldier.]

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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
militia

1590, "system of military discipline," from L. militia "military service, warfare," from miles "soldier" (see military). Sense of "citizen army" (as distinct from professional soldiers) is first recorded 1696, perhaps from Fr. milice. In U.S. history, "the whole body of men declared by law amenable to military service, without enlistment, whether armed and drilled or not" (1777).

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

militia
noun
1.	civilians trained as soldiers but not part of the regular army
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

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