militia

militia

English

Etymology

From Latin mīlitia (“army, military force/service”), from mīles (“soldier”). Doublet of militsia.

The use of "militia" rather than "police" to refer to the police force (of Belarus and some other countries) originated in the USSR.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /məˈlɪʃə/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪʃə

Noun

militia (plural militias or militiae)

1. An army of trained civilians, which may be an official reserve army, called upon in time of need, the entire able-bodied population of a state which may also be called upon, or a private force not under government control.
2. Synonym of militsia: the national police force of certain countries (e.g. Belarus).

Translations

army of trained civilians called upon in time of need

Arabic: تَنْظِيم مُسَلَّح‎ m (tanẓīm musallaḥ), جَمَاعَة مُسَلَّحَة‎ f (jamāʿa(t) musallaḥa), مِيلِيشْيَا‎ f (mīlīšyā) Egyptian Arabic: ميليشيا‎ f (melešyā) Basque: milizia Belarusian: мілі́цыя f (milícyja) Bulgarian: мили́ция (bg) f (milícija) Chinese: Mandarin: 民兵 (zh) (mínbīng), 國民軍／国民军 (zh) (guómínjūn), 義勇軍／义勇军 (zh) (yìyǒngjūn) Czech: milice f Dutch: militie (nl) Esperanto: milicio Estonian: miilits Finnish: miliisi (fi) French: milice (fr) f German: (general) Miliz (de) f; (official reserve also) Landwehr (de); Reserve (de); Volksheer (de) Hindi: नागरिक सेना f (nāgrik senā) Hungarian: milícia, polgárőrség, nemzetőrség Indonesian: milisi (id) Italian: milizia (it) f Japanese: 民兵 (ja) (みんぺい, minpei) Kalmyk: милиц (milits) Korean: 민병(民兵) (ko) (Minbyeong) Lithuanian: milicija (lt) Macedonian: мили́ција f (milícija) Malay: militia Maori: kura takahi puni, kura takai puni Norman: milice f Persian: میلیشیا‎ (milišyâ), میلیس‎ (milis) Polish: milicja (pl) f Portuguese: milícia (pt) f Romanian: miliție (ro) f Russian: мили́ция (ru) f (milícija) (also: Russian police force), наро́дное ополче́ние n (naródnoje opolčénije) Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: мѝлӣција f Roman: mìlīcija (sh) f Slovak: milícia f Slovene: milica f Spanish: milicia (es) f Swedish: milis (sv) c Ukrainian: мілі́ція f (milícija) Volapük: sifanakomipanef (collective)

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Latin

Etymology

From mīles (“soldier”) +‎ -ia.

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /miːˈli.ti.a/, [miːˈlʲɪt̪iä]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /miˈlit.t͡si.a/, [miˈlit̪ː͡s̪iä]

Noun

mīlitia f (genitive mīlitiae); first declension

1. military service
   • 27 BCE – 25 BCE, Livy, Ab Urbe Condita 26.1:

     huic generī mīlitum senātus eundem, quem Cannēnsibus, fīnem statuērat mīlitiae.

     For this class of soldier the senate had established a limit in duration to their military service, which was the same as the men at Cannae.

2. the military, army, soldiery
3. warfare, war, campaign

   domi militiaeque (also domi bellique) ― in war and peace

4. civil service, profession, employment
5. (figuratively) military spirit, courage, bravery

Declension

First-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	mīlitia	mīlitiae
Genitive	mīlitiae	mīlitiārum
Dative	mīlitiae	mīlitiīs
Accusative	mīlitiam	mīlitiās
Ablative	mīlitiā	mīlitiīs
Vocative	mīlitia	mīlitiae

Related terms

• mīles
• mīlitāris
• mīlitāriter
• mīlitārius
• mīlitō

 

Descendants

• Catalan: milícia
• Crimean Tartar: militsioner, militsiya
• English: militia
• Middle French: milice
  • French: milice
    • → Ottoman Turkish: میلیس‎
      • Turkish: milis
• Italian: milizia
• Polish: milicja
• Portuguese: milícia
• Romanian: miliție
• Russian: мили́ция (milícija)
• Spanish: milicia

References

• “militia”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “militia”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• militia in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• militia in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette
• Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎, London: Macmillan and Co.
  • to take service in the army: militiam (only in the sing.) capessere
    
  • to try to avoid military service: militiam detrectare, subterfugere
    
  • to be excused military duty: militiae vacationem habere
    
  • to retire from service: militia functum, perfunctum esse
    
• militia in Ramminger, Johann (accessed 16 July 2016) Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700‎, pre-publication website, 2005-2016