Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “military” come from?

Military comes from Old French militaire, derived from Latin militaris, formed with the Latin suffix -aris, which developed from -alis, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European -li-.

military (English): Characteristic of members of the armed forces;...

Definitions

  1. Characteristic of members of the armed forces;...

Ancestry of “military”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Frenchmilitaire—
2Latinmīlitāris—
3Latin-āris—
4Latin-ālis—
5Proto-Italic-ālis—

Words derived from “military”

  • militarily
  • paramilitary
  • militaristic
  • militarist
  • nonmilitary
  • unmilitary
  • antimilitarist
  • antimilitary
  • quasimilitary
  • promilitary
  • antimilitaristic
  • premilitary
  • postmilitary
  • militaristically
  • militarylike
  • nonmilitaristic
  • pseudomilitary
  • militariness
  • nonmilitarily
  • militaryism
  • unmilitaristic
  • unmilitarily
  • militaryspeak
  • religiomilitary
Every word from Proto-Italic -ālis →