Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Inclined or eager to fight; hostile or aggressive.
  • adjective Of, pertaining to, or engaged in warfare.
  • noun One that is hostile or aggressive, especially one that is engaged in war.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Warlike; given to waging war; characterized by a tendency to wage or carry on war.
  • Of warlike character; constituting or tending to an infraction of peace: as, a belligerent. tone of debate.
  • Actually engaged in war: as, the belligerent powers.
  • Pertaining to war, or to those engaged in war: as, belligerent rights, etc.
  • noun A nation, power, or state carrying on war; also, a person engaged in fighting.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A nation or state recognized as carrying on war; a person engaged in warfare.
  • adjective Waging war; carrying on war.
  • adjective Pertaining, or tending, to war; of or relating to belligerents.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Engaged in warfare, warring.
  • adjective Eager to go to war, warlike.
  • adjective Of or pertaining to war.
  • adjective By extension Aggressively hostile, eager to fight.
  • adjective Acting violently towards others.
  • noun A state or other armed participant in warfare

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective characteristic of an enemy or one eager to fight
  • noun someone who fights (or is fighting)
  • adjective engaged in war

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Latin belligerāns, belligerant-, present participle of belligerāre, to wage war, from belliger, warlike : bellum, war + gerere, to make.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin belligerans ("waging war"), present active participle of belligerō ("I wage war"), from belliger ("waging war, warlike"), from bellum ("war") + -ger (from gerō ("I lead, wage, carry on")).

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Examples

  • By this it was provided that thereafter the captain of a cruiser who should impress an American citizen should be liable to heavy penalties, to be enacted by law; but as the preamble to this proposition read, "Whereas it is not lawful for a belligerent to impress or carry off, from on board a neutral, seafaring persons _who are not the subjects of the belligerent_," there was admitted implicitly the right to impress those who were such subjects, the precise point at issue.

    Sea Power in its Relations to the War of 1812 Volume 1 1877

  • If a foreign unlawful enemy belligerent is actually tried for war crimes before a military commission, he has never enjoyed constitutional due rights under the 5th and 6th Amendments.

    Balkinization 2007

  • If a foreign unlawful enemy belligerent is actually tried for war crimes before a military commission, he has never enjoyed constitutional due rights under the 5th and 6th Amendments.

    Balkinization 2007

  • If a foreign unlawful enemy belligerent is actually tried for war crimes before a military commission, he has never enjoyed constitutional due rights under the 5th and 6th Amendments.

    Balkinization 2007

  • If a foreign unlawful enemy belligerent is actually tried for war crimes before a military commission, he has never enjoyed constitutional due rights under the 5th and 6th Amendments.

    Balkinization 2007

  • If a foreign unlawful enemy belligerent is actually tried for war crimes before a military commission, he has never enjoyed constitutional due rights under the 5th and 6th Amendments.

    Balkinization 2007

  • If a foreign unlawful enemy belligerent is actually tried for war crimes before a military commission, he has never enjoyed constitutional due rights under the 5th and 6th Amendments.

    Balkinization 2007

  • If a foreign unlawful enemy belligerent is actually tried for war crimes before a military commission, he has never enjoyed constitutional due rights under the 5th and 6th Amendments.

    Balkinization 2007

  • If a foreign unlawful enemy belligerent is actually tried for war crimes before a military commission, he has never enjoyed constitutional due rights under the 5th and 6th Amendments.

    Balkinization 2007

  • If a foreign unlawful enemy belligerent is actually tried for war crimes before a military commission, he has never enjoyed constitutional due rights under the 5th and 6th Amendments.

    Balkinization 2007

Comments

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  • the benign and the belligerent

    December 19, 2007

  • Ring my bell.

    December 2, 2008

  • One of the greatest words ever to describe a person's attitude. Fun to say, too!

    December 2, 2008

  • characteristic of one eager to fight

    Tom said that he was arguing the matter purely for philosophical reasons, but his belligerent tone indicated an underlying anger about the issue.

    October 19, 2016