militant

English

Etymology

From Middle French militant, from Latin mīlitāns, present participle of mīlitāre (“to serve as a soldier”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmɪlɪtənt/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Adjective

militant (comparative more militant, superlative most militant)

1. Fighting or disposed to fight; belligerent, warlike. [from 15th c.]
   • 2012, Christopher Clark, The Sleepwalkers, Penguin, published 2013, page 394:

     The upper tiers of the foreign ministry were quick to embrace a militant policy.

   • 2024 July 5, Reuters, “Militant group blamed for 2002 Bali bombings to be disbanded, say senior leaders”, in CNN‎^[1], archived from the original on 7 August 2024:

     Senior members of Jemaah Islamiyah, the Southeast Asian militant network blamed for the deadly Bali bombings, have announced they are disbanding the group, according to a report by a Jakarta-based think tank on Thursday.

2. Aggressively supporting of an idea, group, political or social cause, etc.; adamant, combative. [from 17th c.]
   • 1961, Harry E. Wedeck, Dictionary of Aphrodisiacs, New York: The Citadel Press, page 6:

     The physiological state is not itself militant against erotic expression.

Synonyms

• warrish

Translations

warlike, belligerent

• Belarusian: ваяўні́чы (be) (vajawníčy)
• Bulgarian: войнствен (bg) (vojnstven)
• Chechen: please add this translation if you can
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 好战的 (zh) (hào zhàn de)

• French: militant (fr)
• German: militant (de), kämpferisch (de)
• Hungarian: harcos (hu), harcoló (hu), harcias (hu), militáns (hu)
• Kyrgyz: согушчул (ky) (soguşcul)
• Malay: militan
• Russian: вои́нствующий (ru) (voínstvujuščij), вои́нственный (ru) (voínstvennyj), боево́й (ru) (bojevój)
• Ukrainian: войовни́чий (vojovnýčyj), бойови́й (uk) (bojovýj)

aggressively active or supportive

• Armenian: մարտնչող (martnčʻoġ)
• Bulgarian: агресивен (bg) (agresiven)
• Catalan: militant (ca)
• German: militant (de)
• Hungarian: harcias (hu)
• Malay: militan
• Occitan: militant (oc)
• Russian: боево́й (ru) (bojevój)
• Spanish: militante (es)

Noun

militant (plural militants)

1. (obsolete) A soldier, a combatant. [17th–19th c.]
2. An entrenched or aggressive adherent to a particular cause, now especially a member of a particular ideological faction. [from 19th c.]
   • 1976 December 11, Thom Willenbecher, quoting Jean O'Leary, “Women's Caucus Quits Gay Academic Union”, in Gay Community News, volume 4, number 24, page 1:

     [Jim Owles] lamented the declining influence of militant organizations and tactics, stating that militants "help keep the rest of us honest," and prevent moderates from selling out.

   • 2008 February 19, John F. Burns, “Britain: Life Sentence in Beheading Plot”, in The New York Times‎^[2], archived from the original on 26 November 2022:

     Described by witnesses as a keen cricketer and pubgoer until contacts with Islamic militants radicalized him on a trip to Pakistan, he was ordered to serve at least 14 years for the plot, and for supplying militants in Afghanistan with money and equipment.

   • 2008, Militants in Pakistan release 250 schoolchildren after taking them hostage, Wikinews:

     Officials in Pakistan have confirmed that at least 250 schoolchildren between 12 and 18 years old and several teachers were taken hostage by at least seven militants inside a high school in Domail.

3. (specifically, communism) Someone who supports the Trotskyist political view expressed in the newspaper Militant. [from 20th c.]

Derived terms

• antimilitant
• hypermilitant
• militantism
• militantly
• militantness
• Militant Tendency
• nonmilitant
• supermilitant
• ultramilitant
• unmilitant

Related terms

• militance
• military
• militia

Translations

aggressive adherent

• Arabic: مُقَاتِل m (muqātil), مُحَارِب m (muḥārib), مُنَاضِل (ar) m (munāḍil), مُكَافِح m (mukāfiḥ), مِغْوَار m (miḡwār)
• Azerbaijani: yaraqlı
• Chechen: please add this translation if you can
• Hungarian: harcos (hu)
• Māori: kaiwhakatūtū
• Russian: боеви́к (ru) m (bojevík)
• Ukrainian: бойови́к (uk) m (bojovýk)
• Yiddish: מיליטאַנט m (militant)

one who supports a Trotskyite political view

• Bulgarian: троцкист m (trockist)
• Russian: троцки́ст (ru) m (trockíst), троцки́стка (ru) f (trockístka)

Catalan

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central) [mi.liˈtan]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic, Valencia) [mi.liˈtant]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

Adjective

militant m or f (masculine and feminine plural militants)

1. militant

Noun

militant m or f by sense (plural militants)

1. militant

Verb

militant

1. gerund of militar

Further reading

• “militant”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “militant”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026
• “militant” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• Alcover, Antoni Maria; Moll, Francesc de Borja (1963), “militant”, in Diccionari català-valencià-balear (in Catalan)

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from French militant.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌmi.liˈtɑnt/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: mi‧li‧tant
• Rhymes: -ɑnt

Adjective

militant (comparative militanter, superlative militantst)

1. militant (belligerent, tending to violence, defensive)

Declension

Declension of militant
uninflected	militant
inflected	militante
comparative	militanter
		positive	comparative	superlative
predicative/adverbial		militant	militanter	het militantst het militantste
indefinite	m./f. sing.	militante	militantere	militantste
	n. sing.	militant	militanter	militantste
	plural	militante	militantere	militantste
definite		militante	militantere	militantste
partitive		militants	militanters	—

Related terms

• militair
• militie

Noun

militant m (plural militanten, no diminutive)

1. a militant, combatant
2. a devoted supporter, activist

Derived terms

• partijmilitant
• vakbondsmilitant

French

Etymology

From militer.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mi.li.tɑ̃/

• Audio (France (Toulouse)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Somain)):

  (file)

Adjective

militant (feminine militante, masculine plural militants, feminine plural militantes)

1. militant

Noun

militant m (plural militants)

1. an activist, campaigner

   Synonyms: partisan, supporter, supporteur

Usage notes

• Unlike in English, the French noun militant can mean any activist or supporter and does not connote an aggressive approach.

Participle

militant

1. present participle of militer

Further reading

• “militant”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Anagrams

• limitant

German

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin mīlitāns.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /miliˈtant/

• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ant

Adjective

militant (strong nominative masculine singular militanter, comparative militanter, superlative am militantesten)

1. militant

Declension

Positive forms of militant

number & gender		singular			plural
		masculine	feminine	neuter
predicative		er ist militant	sie ist militant	es ist militant	sie sind militant
strong declension (without article)	nominative	militanter	militante	militantes	militante
	genitive	militanten	militanter	militanten	militanter
	dative	militantem	militanter	militantem	militanten
	accusative	militanten	militante	militantes	militante
weak declension (with definite article)	nominative	der militante	die militante	das militante	die militanten
	genitive	des militanten	der militanten	des militanten	der militanten
	dative	dem militanten	der militanten	dem militanten	den militanten
	accusative	den militanten	die militante	das militante	die militanten
mixed declension (with indefinite article)	nominative	ein militanter	eine militante	ein militantes	(keine) militanten
	genitive	eines militanten	einer militanten	eines militanten	(keiner) militanten
	dative	einem militanten	einer militanten	einem militanten	(keinen) militanten
	accusative	einen militanten	eine militante	ein militantes	(keine) militanten

Comparative forms of militant

number & gender		singular			plural
		masculine	feminine	neuter
predicative		er ist militanter	sie ist militanter	es ist militanter	sie sind militanter
strong declension (without article)	nominative	militanterer	militantere	militanteres	militantere
	genitive	militanteren	militanterer	militanteren	militanterer
	dative	militanterem	militanterer	militanterem	militanteren
	accusative	militanteren	militantere	militanteres	militantere
weak declension (with definite article)	nominative	der militantere	die militantere	das militantere	die militanteren
	genitive	des militanteren	der militanteren	des militanteren	der militanteren
	dative	dem militanteren	der militanteren	dem militanteren	den militanteren
	accusative	den militanteren	die militantere	das militantere	die militanteren
mixed declension (with indefinite article)	nominative	ein militanterer	eine militantere	ein militanteres	(keine) militanteren
	genitive	eines militanteren	einer militanteren	eines militanteren	(keiner) militanteren
	dative	einem militanteren	einer militanteren	einem militanteren	(keinen) militanteren
	accusative	einen militanteren	eine militantere	ein militanteres	(keine) militanteren

Superlative forms of militant

number & gender		singular			plural
		masculine	feminine	neuter
predicative		er ist am militantesten	sie ist am militantesten	es ist am militantesten	sie sind am militantesten
strong declension (without article)	nominative	militantester	militanteste	militantestes	militanteste
	genitive	militantesten	militantester	militantesten	militantester
	dative	militantestem	militantester	militantestem	militantesten
	accusative	militantesten	militanteste	militantestes	militanteste
weak declension (with definite article)	nominative	der militanteste	die militanteste	das militanteste	die militantesten
	genitive	des militantesten	der militantesten	des militantesten	der militantesten
	dative	dem militantesten	der militantesten	dem militantesten	den militantesten
	accusative	den militantesten	die militanteste	das militanteste	die militantesten
mixed declension (with indefinite article)	nominative	ein militantester	eine militanteste	ein militantestes	(keine) militantesten
	genitive	eines militantesten	einer militantesten	eines militantesten	(keiner) militantesten
	dative	einem militantesten	einer militantesten	einem militantesten	(keinen) militantesten
	accusative	einen militantesten	eine militanteste	ein militantestes	(keine) militantesten

Latin

Verb

mīlitant

1. third-person plural present active indicative of mīlitō

Occitan

Pronunciation

• Audio (Béarn):

  (file)

Adjective

militant m (feminine singular militanta, masculine plural militants, feminine plural militantas)

1. militant

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French militant.

Adjective

militant m or n (feminine singular militantă, masculine plural militanți, feminine/neuter plural militante)

1. activist

Declension

Declension of militant

		singular			plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine	masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative- accusative	indefinite	militant		militantă	militanți	militante
	definite	militantul		militanta	militanții	militantele
genitive- dative	indefinite	militant		militante	militanți	militante
	definite	militantului		militantei	militanților	militantelor

Swedish

Adjective

militant (comparative militantare, superlative militantast)

1. militant (belligerent)
2. militant (combative)

Declension

Inflection of militant

Indefinite	positive	comparative	superlative1
common singular	militant	militantare	militantast
neuter singular	militant	militantare	militantast
plural	militanta	militantare	militantast
masculine plural2	militante	militantare	militantast
Definite	positive	comparative	superlative
masculine singular3	militante	militantare	militantaste
all	militanta	militantare	militantaste

¹ The indefinite superlative forms are only used in the predicative.
² Dated or archaic.
³ Only used, optionally, to refer to things whose natural gender is masculine.

References

• “militant”, in Svensk ordbok [Dictionary of Swedish] (in Swedish)
• “militant”, in Svenska Akademiens ordlista [Wordlist of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)
• “militant”, in Svenska Akademiens ordbok [Dictionary of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)