bellicose

English

WOTD – 10 March 2006

Etymology

Etymology tree

Old Latin duellumder.

Latin bellum

Proto-Indo-European *-kos

Proto-Italic *-kos

Latin -cus

Latin -icus

Latin bellicusder.

Latin bellicum signumclip.?

Latin bellicum

Proto-Indo-European *h₃ed-der.

Proto-Indo-European *-h₃d-s-o-?

Latin -ōsus

Latin bellicosusder.

Middle English bellicose

English bellicose

From Middle English bellicose, from Latin bellicosus.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈbɛlɪkoʊs/, /ˈbɛləkoʊs/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• Hyphenation: bel‧li‧cose

Adjective

bellicose (comparative more bellicose, superlative most bellicose)

1. Warlike in nature; aggressive; hostile.
   • 1996 March 15, James Pringle, “Peking sends out mixed signals”, in The Times‎^[1], number 65,528, →ISSN, →OCLC, Overseas News, page 14, column 8:

     CHINA sent both bellicose and conciliatory signals yesterday as tension continued in the Taiwan Strait over Chinese military exercises and the deployment of US naval battle groups.

   • 2012 July 12, Sam Adams, “Ice Age: Continental Drift”, in AV Club:

     The core Ice Age cast—wooly mammoth Manny (Ray Romano), sabertooth tiger Diego (Denis Leary), and sloth Sid (John Leguizamo)—are set adrift, sailing the high seas on a chunk of ice until they collide with a bellicose primate (Peter Dinklage).

   • 2025 March 13, Scott Neuman, Willem Marx, “https://www.npr.org/2025/03/13/nx-s1-5325949/greenland-elections-trump-independence”, in NPR:

     [Greenland's current Prime Minister Múte] Egede has insisted that Greenland is not for sale and he framed the polling partly as a referendum on Trump's seemingly bellicose bullying, saying the election was a "fateful choice."

2. Showing or having the impulse to be combative.

Synonyms

• belligerent
• pugnacious
• See also Thesaurus:combative

Antonyms

• conciliatory
• pacific
• peaceable

Coordinate terms

• trigger-happy
• warmonger

Derived terms

• antibellicose
• bellicosely
• bellicoseness
• nonbellicose
• unbellicose

Related terms

• antebellum
• bellicism
• bellicosity
• belligerent
• Bellona
• postbellum
• rebel
• rebellion

Translations

warlike in nature

• Arabic: عُدْوَانِيّ (ʕudwāniyy)
• Belarusian: ваяўні́чы (be) (vajawníčy)
• Bulgarian: во́йнствен (bg) (vójnstven)
• Catalan: bel·licós
• Danish: krigerisk (da)
• Dutch: vechtlustig (nl)
• Estonian: sõjakas (et)
• Finnish: sotaisa (fi)
• French: belliqueux (fr)
• Galician: bélico (gl)
• Georgian: მეომარი (meomari), მებრძოლი (mebrʒoli)
• German: kriegerisch (de)
• Greek:

  Ancient Greek: πολεμικός (polemikós)

• Icelandic: herskár, deilugjarn, bardagafús, óeirinn, errinn
• Irish: cogúil, trodach

  Old Irish: cathach

• Italian: bellicoso (it)
• Japanese: 戦争好きな (せんそうずきな, sensōzuki na), 好戦的な (ja) (こうせんてきな, kōsenteki na)
• Korean: 호전적(好戰的) (ko) (hojeonjeok)
• Latin: bellicōsus (la)
• Macedonian: воинствен (voinstven)
• Māori: kaitaua, ririhau
• Occitan: bellicós (oc), guerrejaire (oc)
• Polish: wojowniczy (pl)
• Portuguese: bélico (pt)
• Romanian: belicos (ro)
• Russian: вои́нственный (ru) (voínstvennyj)
• Spanish: belicoso (es)
• Tagalog: pinga
• Ukrainian: войовни́чий (vojovnýčyj)

having the impulse to be combative

• Afrikaans: strydlustig
• Belarusian: ваяўні́чы (be) (vajawníčy)
• Bulgarian: во́йнствен (bg) (vójnstven)
• Danish: stridslysten
• Dutch: strijdlustig (nl)
• Finnish: riidanhaluinen (fi)
• French: belliqueux (fr)
• German: kriegerisch (de)
• Icelandic: herskár, bardagafús
• Irish: trodach, taghdach, achrannach
• Italian: combattivo (it), battagliero (it)
• Japanese: 喧嘩っ早い (ja) (けんかっぱやい, kenkappayai), 武闘派な (ja) (ぶとうはな, butōha na)
• Māori: kaitaua
• Occitan: bellicós (oc), batalhièr, guerrejaire (oc)
• Russian: вои́нственный (ru) (voínstvennyj)
• Ukrainian: войовни́чий (vojovnýčyj)

Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bel.liˈko.ze/, (traditional) /bel.liˈko.se/
• Rhymes: -oze, (traditional) -ose
• Hyphenation: bel‧li‧có‧se

Adjective

bellicose

1. feminine plural of bellicoso

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [bɛl.lɪˈkoː.sɛ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [bel.liˈkɔː.s̬e]

Adjective

bellicōse

1. vocative masculine singular of bellicōsus

References

• "bellicose", in Charles du Fresne du Cange, Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)