Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “martial” come from?

Martial comes from Middle French martial, meaning relating to war or soldiers, derived from Latin martial- stem of martialis, an adjective formed from Mārs, the Roman god of war.

martial (English): Of, relating to, or suggestive of war; warlike;...

Definitions

  1. Of, relating to, or suggestive of war; warlike;...

Ancestry of “martial”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishmartial—
2Middle Frenchmartial—
3LatinMartialisRoman cognomen
4Latin-ālis—
5Proto-Italic-ālis—

Words derived from “martial”

  • martially
  • martialist
  • martiality
  • nonmartial
  • martialism
  • martialness
  • martialize
  • immartial
Every word from Proto-Italic -ālis →