belligerent
English
WOTD – 12 October 2008, 12 October 2009
Etymology
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”)).
Pronunciation
- (UK) IPA(key): /bəˈlɪdʒ.(ə).ɹənt/
- (US) IPA(key): /bəˈlɪd͡ʒ.ə.ɹənt/
Audio (US): (file) Audio (General Australian): (file)
Adjective
belligerent (comparative more belligerent, superlative most belligerent)
- Engaged in warfare, warring.
- Eager to go to war, warlike.
- Of or pertaining to war.
- (by extension) Aggressively hostile, eager to fight.
- 2019 November 3, Liam de Carme, “Boks, you beauties”, in Sunday Times[1]:
- England were not allowed to give their chariot the momentum it had a week ago. It was stopped dead in its tracks by a belligerent Springboks defence that simply refused to yield.
- Acting violently towards others.
- Uncooperative.
Synonyms
- (eager to fight): aggressive, antagonistic, bellicose, combative, contentious, pugnacious, quarrelsome, truculent
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations
engaged in warfare
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eager to go to war
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of or pertaining to war
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hostile, eager to fight
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acting violently
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
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Noun
belligerent (plural belligerents)
- A state or other armed participant in warfare
- The UN sent a treaty proposal to the belligerents.
Derived terms
Translations
state or other armed participant in warfare
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See also
Dutch
Etymology
Borrowed from French belligérant, from Latin belligerēns (“waging war”), present active participle of belligerō (“wage war”), from belliger (“waging war, warlike”), from bellum (“war”) + -ger (from gerō (“wage, carry on”)).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /bɛ.li.ɣəˈrɛnt/
Audio: (file) - Hyphenation: bel‧li‧ge‧rent
- Rhymes: -ɛnt
Adjective
belligerent (comparative belligerenter, superlative belligerentst)
- belligerent, engaged in warfare
Declension
| Declension of belligerent | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| uninflected | belligerent | |||
| inflected | belligerente | |||
| comparative | belligerenter | |||
| positive | comparative | superlative | ||
| predicative/adverbial | belligerent | belligerenter | het belligerentst het belligerentste | |
| indefinite | m./f. sing. | belligerente | belligerentere | belligerentste |
| n. sing. | belligerent | belligerenter | belligerentste | |
| plural | belligerente | belligerentere | belligerentste | |
| definite | belligerente | belligerentere | belligerentste | |
| partitive | belligerents | belligerenters | — | |
Synonyms
Noun
belligerent m (plural belligerenten)
- a belligerent, armed party in warfare
Latin
Verb
belligerent
- third-person plural present active subjunctive of belligerō