Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. An army composed of ordinary citizens rather than professional soldiers.
- n. A military force that is not part of a regular army and is subject to call for service in an emergency.
- n. The whole body of physically fit civilians eligible by law for military service.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. Military service; warfare.
- n. Soldiery; militants collectively.
- n. Hence The whole body of men declared by law amenable to military service, without enlistment, whether armed and drilled or not.
- n. A body of men enrolled and drilled according to military law, as an armed force, but not as regular soldiers, and called out in emergency for actual service and periodically for drill and exercise. The feudal array of the middle ages was properly a militia, and the first proceeding of modern warfare consisted in the gradual adoption of permanent and regular troops, which superseded the militia.
Wiktionary
- n. this sense?) An army.
- n. in particular 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.
- n. The national police force of certain countries (e.g. Russia, Ukraine).
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. In the widest sense, the whole military force of a nation, including both those engaged in military service as a business, and those competent and available for such service; specifically, the body of citizens enrolled for military instruction and discipline, but not subject to be called into actual service except in emergencies.
- n. obsolete Military service; warfare.
WordNet 3.0
- n. the entire body of physically fit civilians eligible by law for military service
- n. civilians trained as soldiers but not part of the regular army
Etymologies
- From Latin mīlitia ("army, military force/service"), from mīles ("soldier"). (Wiktionary)
- Latin mīlitia, warfare, military service, from mīles, mīlit-, soldier. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“An aft to apportion At relief* by the fevered fiatutes mm in force directed to bo ghat* to the families of non-eommifioned office, drummers* fifers* and private s y ferving in the mttkia* between the county at large and the peculiar di/Mfts therein not contri - buting to the county rate* according to the number of menferv - ingfor each infuch militia 9 and to remove certain difficulties in rejpeft to the relief of families affithftituUs* hired men* or w lunteers* ferving tn the militia* — - [May 22, .1795.]”
“The word militia meant something different back then, Noah.”
“The court also touched on the meaning of the term militia:”
Friendly Fire: Gun Nuts Go Full-Auto on One of Their Own « Lean Left
“But suppose I adopt the definition of the term militia insisted upon by those who differ from me.”
“Again he says: "The term militia is a collective term meaning a body of men organized.”
“The term militia is commonly used today to refer to a military force composed of ordinary citizens [1] to provide defense, emergency law enforcement, or paramilitary service, in times of emergency without being paid a regular salary or committed to a fixed term of service.”
“To be a member of the militia is to be a traitor to the union, for the militia is a weapon wielded by the employers to crush the workers in the struggle between the warring groups.”
“This Montana militia is a bunch who demand that some local town in Montana form a militia and that all males over age 18 be be required to serve.”
“The word militia is also used in Article 2, Section 2 - "The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States”
“Wherefore his Human Defense Union is seriously talking about arming itself, forming what it calls a militia; and Dagny has phoned him to discuss this on an encrypted line.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘militia’.
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4087 more...
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pretty dots all in a row
polka dotted words
hijack, jinx, jingle, beijing, jive, jilted, jittery, jill, hijab, haji, hajj, hijinks and 149 more...
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EU - Eurovoc - international relations
ABM Agreement, accession to a co..., accession to a tr..., accession to an a..., achievement of peace, ACP-EC Convention, advanced technolo..., aerospace industry, African organisation, aggression, agreement, agricultural coop... and 851 more...
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Unfamiliar Words
dank, refrain, hostage, frigid, warden, atrocious, squirm, kinship, riot, counterfeit, stamped, scaffolding and 59 more...
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big book gre
abase, abbess, abbey, abbot, abdicate, abdomen, abdominal, abduction, abed, aberration, abet, abeyance and 6691 more...
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hedges's Words
wii, crepuscule, adumbrate, concatenation, sufi, qawwali, furry, riot, mellifluous, conspiracy, etymology, tea cozy and 369 more...
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My Modern Job in the Past
Words I come across at work.
Now stripped of most military terms, which have found a new home on the list Historical Military Terms of Interest. See also (and add to!) hilarious misspe...chaise-marine, delft, delftware, quince, tympan, cresset, navvy, venn diagram, poop deck, apothecary, heliotrope, millinery and 294 more...
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good words
words that are mostly fun to say or just lovely
undulate, voluptuous, whimsy, parse, dank, cerulean, peen, traipsing, listless, coup de grace, reconnoiter, mercurial and 499 more...
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ash
ash
abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abide, abject, abjure and 4874 more...
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American Gladiators
No, seriously.
malibu, lace, gemini, zap, nitro, sunny, blaze, bronco, gold, laser, jade, titan and 40 more...
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'Parvana' word list
Words that important in understanding, thinking about and writing about the novel 'Parvana' by Deborah Ellis.
soldier, religious, Taliban, dangerous, burqa, Afghanistan, optimistic, forbidden, foreign, illiterate, humiliation, photograph and 8 more...
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joegeoghan's list
dim, heart, twilight, sky, photograph, prayer, dwindle, magazine, hero, vault, albeit, fracture and 8 more...
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Zimbabwoe
A list of words and terminology culled from the media in relation to the political situation in Zimbabwe. List commenced April 2008.
election, poverty, hyperinflation, tsvangirai, mdc, mugabe, zanu pf, activist, stalemate, behind-the-scenes, arrest, election result and 86 more...
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if you don't have anything nice to say
animosity, twit, fury, scorn, intrusive, abomination, affront, aggressive, antisocial, apalling, armada, avaricious and 85 more...
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More Words
vestigal, grousing, duplicitous, inflections, incrementally, hybrid, abbrogated, minarettes, procurement, incensed, insensed, moratorium and 41 more...
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bodya's Words
a2dp, edge, aacs, yariserv, bogdan, kiev, kyiv, ukraine, komsomolsk, komsomol'sk, poltava, vodka and 64 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for militia.
chained_bear "The legislature required white men to drill with a militia in case of Indian attacks, and the resulting militia days offered another chance to imbibe.... Alcoholic beverages were such an intrinsic part of the militia muster that boys playing 'militia' ended their games with rounds of drinks."
—Sarah Hand Meacham, Every Home a Distillery: Alcohol, Gender, and Technology in the Colonial Chesapeake (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2009), 16 Jun 9, 2010
bilby
Know, then, unnumber'd Spirits round thee fly,
The light Militia of the lower sky:
These, tho' unseen, are ever on the wing,
Hang o'er the Box, and hover round the Ring.
- Alexander Pope, 'The Rape Of The Lock'. Apr 28, 2009
lampbane "The 6-foot, 3-inch, 220-pound Gladiator targets his opponents with tactical precision. With an impressive arsenal of skills at his disposal, he is well equipped for any operation and will do anything to complete his objective. Once Militia has you in his sights, you'd better have a plan, or the game is over."
(Official biography on the NBC American Gladiators website) Sep 6, 2008