combat

English

Etymology

Etymology tree
Vulgar Latin combatto
Old French combatre
French combattredeverb.
French combatbor.
English combat

    16th century, borrowed from Middle French combat, deverbal from Old French combatre, from Vulgar Latin *combattere, from Latin com- (“with”) + battuere (“to beat, strike”).

    Pronunciation 1

    • (UK) IPA(key): /ˈkɒmˌbæt/, (obsolete) /ˈkʌmˌbæt/[1]
    • (US, Atlantic Canada) IPA(key): /ˈkɑmˌbæt/
      • Audio (California):(file)
    • (Canada, Boston, Maine) IPA(key): /ˈkɒmˌbæt/
    • (Australia) IPA(key): /ˈkɔmˌbæt/
    • (New Zealand) IPA(key): [ˈkɔ̟mˌbɛt]
    • Rhymes: -æt

    Noun

    combat (countable and uncountable, plural combats)

    1. A battle, a fight (often one in which weapons are used).
      • 1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter VIII, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC:
        "My tastes," he said, still smiling, "incline me to the garishly sunlit side of this planet." And, to tease her and arouse her to combat: "I prefer a farandole to a nocturne; I'd rather have a painting than an etching; Mr. Whistler bores me with his monochromatic mud; I don't like dull colours, dull sounds, dull intellects; […]."
      • 1950 September 1, Harry S. Truman, 0:56 from the start, in MP72-73 Korea and World Peace: President Truman Reports to the People‎[2], Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives Identifier: 595162:
        In less than eight weeks, five divisions of United States troops have moved into combat, some of them from bases more than 6,000 miles away. More men are on the way. Fighting in difficult country under every kind of hardship, American troops have held back overwhelming numbers of the communist invaders.
      • 2012 March, William E. Carter, Merri Sue Carter, “The British Longitude Act Reconsidered”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 2, page 87:
        Conditions were horrendous aboard most British naval vessels at the time. Scurvy and other diseases ran rampant, killing more seamen each year than all other causes combined, including combat.
    2. a struggle for victory
    Derived terms
    Translations

    Pronunciation 2

    • (UK) IPA(key): /kəmˈbæt/, /ˈkɒmˌbæt/, (obsolete) /ˈkʌmˌbæt/[1]
    • (US) IPA(key): /kəmˈbæt/, /ˈkɑmˌbæt/
    • Audio (US):(file)
    • Rhymes: -æt

    Verb

    combat (third-person singular simple present combats, present participle combating or combatting, simple past and past participle combated or combatted)

    1. (transitive) To fight; to struggle against.
      It has proven very difficult to combat drug addiction.
      • 2025 March 10, Karina Tsui and Elizabeth Wolfe, “Department of Education investigating 60 colleges and universities over antisemitism claims”, in CNN‎[3], Atlanta, Ga.: Warner Bros. Discovery, archived from the original on 25 May 2026:
        President Donald Trump’s administration has made combating what it considers anti-Israel and antisemitic movements on college campuses a priority.
        He signed an executive order during his second week in office to “combat antisemitism” in schools and on university campuses, and on February 3 announced the creation of a multiagency task force to carry out the mandate.
    2. (intransitive) To fight (with); to struggle for victory (against).
      • 1671, John Milton, Samson Agonistes:
        To combat with a blind man I disdain.
    Translations

    References

    1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Jespersen, Otto (1909), A Modern English Grammar on Historical Principles (Sammlung germanischer Elementar- und Handbücher; 9)‎[1], volume I: Sounds and Spellings, London: George Allen & Unwin, published 1961, § 3.442, page 85.

    Anagrams

    Catalan

    Pronunciation

    Etymology 1

      Deverbal from combatre. First attested in 1490.[1]

      Noun

      combat m (plural combats)

      1. combat

      Etymology 2

      Verb

      combat

      1. inflection of combatre:
        1. third-person singular present indicative
        2. second-person singular imperative

      References

      1. ^ “combat”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026

      Further reading

      French

      Pronunciation

      Etymology 1

        Deverbal from combattre.

        Noun

        combat m (plural combats)

        1. combat (hostile interaction)
        2. (figuratively) combat (contest; competition)
        3. (in the plural) battle; military combat
        Derived terms
        Descendants
        • Haitian Creole: konba
        • → Ido: kombato

        Etymology 2

        See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

        Verb

        combat

        1. third-person singular present indicative of combattre

        Further reading

        Norman

        Etymology

        (This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

        Noun

        combat m (plural combats)

        1. (Jersey) combat

        Romanian

        Pronunciation

        • IPA(key): [komˈbat]

        Verb

        combat

        1. inflection of combate:
          1. first-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
          2. third-person plural present indicative
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