battle

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See also: Battle

English

Pronunciation

  • Lua error in Module:parameters at line 95: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "UK" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): /ˈbætəl/, [ˈbatʰɫ̩]
  • Lua error in Module:parameters at line 95: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "US" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. enPR: băt'l, IPA(key): /ˈbætl̩/, [ˈbæɾɫ̩], [bætɫ̩]
  • Audio (US)(file)
  • Rhymes: -ætəl
  • Hyphenation: bat‧tle

Etymology 1

From Middle English batel, batell, batelle, batayle, bataylle, borrowed from Old French bataille, from Late Latin battālia, variant of battuālia (“fighting and fencing exercises”).

Displaced native Old English beado, beadu (“battle”), ġefeoht (“battle, war”), gūþ (“battle, war, fight”), and camp (“battle, war, contest”).

Alternative forms

  • batail (14th–16th centuries)

Noun

battle (plural battles)

  1. A contest, a struggle.
    the battle of life
  2. (military) A general action, fight, or encounter, in which all the divisions of an army are or may be engaged; a combat, an engagement.
  3. (military, now rare) A division of an army; a battalion.
    • [1470–1485 (date produced), Thomas Malory, “Capitulum x”, in [Le Morte Darthur], book II (in Middle English), [London: […] by William Caxton], published 31 July 1485, →OCLC, leaf 43, verso; republished as H[einrich] Oskar Sommer, editor, Le Morte Darthur […], London: David Nutt, […], 1889, →OCLC, page 86, lines 28–31:
      Thenne kyng Arthur made redy his hooſt in x batails and Nero was redy in the felde afore the caſtel Tarabil with a grete hooſt / & he had x batails with many mo peple than Arthur had [...]
      Then King Arthur made ready his host in 10 battles and Nero was ready in the field before the castle Tarabil with a great host / and he had 10 battles with many more people than Arthur had [...]]
    • 1622, Francis, Lord Verulam, Viscount St. Alban [i.e. Francis Bacon], The Historie of the Raigne of King Henry the Seventh, […], London: […] W[illiam] Stansby for Matthew Lownes, and William Barret, →OCLC, page 35:
      They ſay, that the King diuided his Armie into three Battailes; whereof the Vant-guard onely well ſtrengthened with wings, came to fight.
    • 1769, William Robertson, “Section II. View of the Progress of Society in Europe, with Respect to the Command of the National Force Requisite in Foreign Operations.”, in The History of the Reign of the Emperor Charles V. With a View of the Progress of Society in Europe, from the Subversion of the Roman Empire, to the Beginning of the Sixteenth Century. In Three Volumes, volume I, London: Printed by W. and W. Strahan, for W[illiam] Strahan; T[homas] Cadell, […]; and J. Balfour, […], →OCLC, page 87:
      No gentleman would appear in the field but on horſeback. To ſerve in any other manner he would have deemed derogatory to his rank. The cavalry, by way of distinction, was called The battle, and on it alone depended the fate of every action. The infantry, collected from the dregs and refuſe of the people, ill armed and worſe diſciplined; was of no account.
    • 2000 November, George R[aymond] R[ichard] Martin, A Storm of Swords (A Song of Ice and Fire; book 3), New York, N.Y.: Bantam Books, →ISBN; Bantam Spectra mass market edition, New York, N.Y.: Bantam Dell, March 2003, →ISBN, page 634:
      Once I link up with Lord Bolton and the Freys, I will have more than twelve thousand men. I mean to divide them into three battles and start up the causeway a half-day apart.
  4. (military, obsolete) The main body of an army, as distinct from the vanguard and rear; the battalia.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Hayward to this entry?)
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Verb

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  1. (intransitive) To join in battle; to contend in fight
    Scientists always battle over theories.
    She has been battling against cancer for years.
  2. (transitive) To fight or struggle; to enter into a battle with.
    She has been battling cancer for years.
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Etymology 2

From Early Modern English batell, probably from Middle English *batel (“flourishing”), from Old English *batol (“improving, tending to be good”), from batian (“to get better, improve”) + -ol ( +‎ -le).

Alternative forms

Adjective

battle (comparative more battle, superlative most battle)

  1. (UK dialectal, chiefly Scotland, Northern England, agriculture) Improving; nutritious; fattening.
    battle grass, battle pasture
  2. (UK dialectal, chiefly Scotland, Northern England) Fertile; fruitful.
    battle soil, battle land
Derived terms

Verb

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  1. (transitive, UK dialectal, chiefly Scotland, Northern England) To nourish; feed.
  2. (transitive, UK dialectal, chiefly Scotland, Northern England) To render (for example soil) fertile or fruitful
Related terms

References

Anagrams

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