battle (n.)

"fight or hostile engagement between opposing forces," c. 1300, from Old French bataille "battle, single combat," also "inner turmoil, harsh circumstances; army, body of soldiers," from Late Latin battualia "exercise of soldiers and gladiators in fighting and fencing," from Latin battuere "to beat, to strike" (see batter (v.)).

Battle-cry is from 1812; battle-flag from 1840; battle-scarred is from 1848. Phrase battle royal "fight involving several combatants" is from 1670s.

also from c. 1300

battle (v.)

early 14c., "to fight," from French batailler (12c.), from bataille (see battle (n.)). Related: Battled; battling.

also from early 14c.

Entries linking to battle

batter (v.)

"strike repeatedly, beat violently and rapidly," early 14c., from Old French batre "to beat, strike" (11c., Modern French battre "to beat, to strike"), from Latin battuere, batuere "to beat, strike," a rare word in literary Latin but evidently an old one and popular in Vulgar Latin. It is said to be probably borrowed from Gaulish (compare Welsh bathu "beat," Irish and Gaelic bat, bata "staff, cudgel") and to be perhaps from PIE root *bhau- "to strike." (source also of Welsh bathu "beat;" Old English beadu "battle," beatan "to beat," bytl "hammer, mallet").

The word began to be widely used in reference to domestic abuse in 1962. Related: Battered; battering. Battering-ram is an ancient weapon (Latin aries), but the phrase is attested only from 1610s.

battle-axe (n.)

also battle-ax, late 14c., weapon of war, from battle (n.) + axe (n.); meaning "formidable woman" is U.S. slang, attested by 1896.

battlefield

battleship

embattle

See all related words (5) >

Trends of battle

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/. Ngrams are probably unreliable.

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battleship

also battle-ship, "powerful warship designed to fight in a line of battle," 1794, shortened from line-of-battle ship (1705), a ship of the line, one large enough to take part in a main attack (formerly one of 74-plus guns); from battle (n.) + ship (n.). Later in the U.S. Navy it

struggle

late 14c., strogelen, "wrestle, grapple, contend physically," a word of obscure origin, probably a frequentative form with -el (3) (compare trample, wrestle), but the first element is uncertain. According to OED, Skeat suggests Old Norse strugr "ill will," while others suggest a

conflict

early 15c., "to contend, fight, struggle," from Latin conflictus, past participle of confligere "to strike together, be in conflict," from assimilated form of com "with, together" (see con-) + fligere "to strike" (see afflict). Meaning "be in opposition, be contrary or at varianc

Hilda

fem. proper name, German, literally "battle-maid," from fem. of Old High German hild "war, battle, fight, combat," from Proto-Germanic...*hildiz "battle" (source also of Old English (poetic) hild "war, battle," Old Saxon hild, Old High German hilt, Old Norse...English hild figured widely in kenning compounds: Hildbedd "deathbed;" hildegicel "blood dripping from a sword," literally "battle-icicle...;" hildenædre "arrow, lance, spear," literally "war-adder;" hildesæd "weary of fighting, battle-worn," literally "battle-sad...

Valhalla

heavenly hall in which Odin receives the souls of heroes slain in battle, 1696 (in Archdeacon Nicolson's "English Historical...Library"), from Old Norse Valhöll "hall of the battle-slain;" first element from valr "those slain in battle," from Proto-Germanic...

Matilda

fem. proper name, from French Mathilde, which is of Germanic origin, literally "mighty in battle;" compare Old High German...Mahthilda, from mahti "might, power" (see might (n.)) + hildi "battle," from Proto-Germanic *hildiz "battle" (see Hilda)...

gonfalon

French gonfanon "knight's pennon" (12c., Modern French gonfalon), from Frankish *gundfano or Old High German guntfano "battle...flag," from a Proto-Germanic compound of *gunthjo "war, battle" (from PIE *gwhen- "to strike, kill;" see bane) + *fano "...

fight

Old English feohtan "to combat, contend with weapons, strive; attack; gain by fighting, win" (intransitive; class III strong verb; past tense feaht, past participle fohten), from Proto-Germanic *fe(u)hta (source also of Old High German fehtan, German fechten, Middle Dutch and Dut

contend

mid-15c., "engage in rivalry, compete," from Old French contendre and directly from Latin contendere "to stretch out; to shoot, hurl, throw; strive after mentally; measure or try one's strength with, fight, vie with," from assimilated form of com-, here perhaps an intensive prefi

assault

late 14c., earlier asaut (c. 1200), "physical attack (on a person), sudden violent onslaught (on a place)," from Old French asaut, assaut "an attack, an assault, attacking forces" (12c.), from Vulgar Latin *adsaltus "attack, assault," from ad "to" (see ad-) + Latin saltus "a leap

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updated on December 06, 2018

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Dictionary entries near battle

batten

Battenberg

batter

battery

batting

battle

battle-axe

battledore

battlefield

battlement

battleship