Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “militia” come from?

Militia comes from Latin militia, formed from Latin mīles (soldier) plus the suffix -ia, which derives from Ancient Greek -ία and ultimately Proto-Indo-European -h₂.

militia (English): An army of trained civilians, which may be an...

Definitions

  1. An army of trained civilians, which may be an...

Ancestry of “militia”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Latinmīlitia—
2Latin-iaUsed to form a feminine abstract noun, usually...
3Latin-iusforming adjectives from nouns; nominative neuter...
4Proto-Italic-jōsForms comparative adjectives
5Proto-Indo-European-yósCreates adjectives from noun or verb stems

Words derived from “militia”

  • militiaman
  • militiawoman
  • antimilitia
  • militialike
  • militiaperson
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -yós →