Military

//ˈmɪl.ɪ.t(ə.)ɹi// adj, noun

adj, noun ·Common ·High school level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Armed forces.

    "He spent six years in the military."

  2. 2
    the military forces of a nation wordnet
Adjective
  1. 1
    Characteristic of members of the armed forces. not-comparable, usually

    "She was dishonorably discharged from all military duties."

  2. 2
    Relating to armed forces such as the army, marines, navy and air force (often as distinguished from civilians or police forces). Canada, US, not-comparable, usually

    "If you join a military force, you may end up killing people."

  3. 3
    Relating to war. not-comparable, usually

    "The only goal pursued by Western defense strategy — to cause the Warsaw Pact to break off an attack — is more military than political in nature."

  4. 4
    Relating to armies or ground forces. not-comparable, usually
Adjective
  1. 1
    associated with or performed by members of the armed services as contrasted with civilians wordnet
  2. 2
    characteristic of or associated with soldiers or the military wordnet
  3. 3
    of or relating to the study of the principles of warfare wordnet

Example

More examples

"The President says we must beef up our military forces."

Etymology

From Middle English militari, from Old French militaire, from Latin mīlitāris, from mīles (“soldier”). Doublet of militaire.

Related phrases

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.