bellicose, belligerent, et alii = War Words

(Latin: war; bellum, war; bellare, to wage war)

Words that are synonyms for war

Phrases of words that describe the term war:

  • armed conflict
  • warfare
  • hostilities
  • military operations
  • clash of arms
  • combat
  • military attacks
  • battle with opponents
  • take up arms

War Words and Their Histories

When the terms war and battle are historically researched, we discover that their first ancestral parents belong to two different languages: Battle comes from Latin battuo, "heat" from which also comes the word battalion, and war comes from the OId High German word werran, meaning "quarrel" or "embroil".

Before engaging in battle, an over-all plan of strategy must be determined, and strategy, in this case, is the science of military positions and the effective management of the armed forces. The word strategy came into English from French strategie, that was formed from the Greek stratos, "an army" and ago, "lead', which implies schemes to make use of every possible way of gaining a physical and mental advantage over an enemy.

Tactics is a word similar to strategy and it comes through the French tactique which came from the Greek taktikos, from tasso, "arrange". Tactics represents the art of maneuvering war vessels and "arranging" and handling troops in the presence of an enemy."

In addition to tactics and strategy, the French invented a third military science which they called logistique, that became logistics in English. This is the business of moving, supplying, and quartering soldiers. It stems from the French loger which means "to quarter", that is, "to find lodgings" or a place to live.

—Compiled from information located in Word Origins by Wilfred Funk;
Grosset & Dunlap Publisher; New York; 1950; pages 230-231.

You can find other examples of war words by clicking on this belli-, bell- link.