Martial art
noun
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 Any of several fighting styles which contain systematized methods of training for combat, both armed and unarmed; often practiced as a sport, e.g. boxing, karate, judo, silat, wrestling, or Muay Thai.
- 2 any of several Oriental arts of weaponless self-defense; usually practiced as a sport wordnet
- 3 Military skills, proficiency in military strategy, prowess in warfare.
"[…] of all the modes by which the advantage of his country may be secured, the martial arts and valour are those by which a Swiss the most hopes to promote it."
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
More examples"[…] of all the modes by which the advantage of his country may be secured, the martial arts and valour are those by which a Swiss the most hopes to promote it."
Etymology
Calque of Japanese 武術 (bujutsu), which is itself borrowed from Chinese 武術 /武术 (wǔshù). However, the term had been already mentioned in Pope's Iliad (1715, 4.360), and in Sotheby's Iliad (1831, book 6).