combat

English

Etymology

16th century,borrowedfromMiddle Frenchcombat,deverbal fromOld Frenchcombatre,fromVulgar Latin*combattere,fromLatincom-(“with”)+battuere(“to beat, strike”).

Pronunciation

• Noun:
  • (UK)IPA^(key):/ˈkɒmˌbæt/,(obsolete)/ˈkʌmˌbæt/
  • (US)IPA^(key):/ˈkɑmˌbæt/

  • Audio(US):

    (file)

• Verb:
  • (UK)IPA^(key):/ˈkɒmˌbæt/,(obsolete)/ˈkʌmˌbæt/
  • (US)IPA^(key):/kəmˈbæt/,/ˈkɑmˌbæt/

  • Audio(US):

    (file)

• Rhymes:-æt

Noun

combat(countableanduncountable,pluralcombats)

1. Abattle,afight(often one in whichweaponsare used).
   • 1907August,Robert W[illiam] Chambers,chapter VIII, inThe 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 tocombat:"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;[…]."

   • 1950September 1,Harry S. Truman,0:56 from the start, inMP72-73 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 intocombat,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.

   • 2012March, William E. Carter, Merri Sue Carter, “The British Longitude Act Reconsidered”,inAmerican Scientist,volume100,number 2, page87:

     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, includingcombat.

2. astruggleforvictory

Derived terms

• anticombat
• armored combat
• armoured combat
• close combat
• combatable
• combat air patrol
• combatant
• combat armor suit
• combat armour suit
• combatative
• combat boot
• combat box
• combat drone
• combat engineer
• combat fatigue
• combat fatigues
• combative
• combat loading
• combat log
• combat pants
• combat pay
• combat sport
• combat stress reaction
• combat trousers
• combatworthy
• combat zone
• intercombat
• mortal combat
• mutual combat
• noncombat
• postcombat
• post-combat
• precombat
• pre-combat
• single combat
• stage combat

Related terms

• abate
• abattoir
• battalion
• batter
• battery
• battle
• debate
• hors de combat
• rebate

Translations

a battle; a fight

• Afrikaans:geveg
• Albanian:lufta
• Arabic:قِتَالm(qitāl)

  Hijazi Arabic:قِتالm(gitāl),مُحاربةf(muḥāraba)

• Armenian:մարտ(hy)(mart),կռիվ(hy)(kṙiv)
• Bulgarian:би́тка(bg)f(bítka),сраже́ние(bg)n(sražénie),борба́(bg)f(borbá)
• Catalan:batalla(ca)f,combat(ca)m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin:Chiến đấu／Chiến đấu(zh)(zhàndòu),Phấn đấu／Phấn đấu(zh)(fèndòu)

• Czech:boj(cs)m
• Danish:kamp(da),slag(da),slagsmål(da),træfning(da)
• Dutch:gevecht(nl),kamp(nl),slag(nl),strijd(nl),treffen(nl),veldslag(nl)
• Esperanto:batalo(eo)
• Estonian:lahing(et)
• Faroese:bardagi
• Finnish:taistelu(fi),kamppailu(fi)
• French:combat(fr)m,bataille(fr)f,lutte(fr)f
• Galician:combate(gl)m
• German:Kampf(de)m,Schlacht(de)f,Gefecht(de)n
• Greek:αγώνας(el)m(agónas),πάλη(el)f(páli),μάχη(el)(máchi)

  Ancient:μάχηf(mákhē);(epic)δηϊοτήςf(dēïotḗs),ὑσμίνηf(husmínē)

• Hebrew:נפתוליםm
• Hindi:संग्राम(hi)(saṅgrām),युद्ध(hi)(yuddh),रण(hi)(raṇ)
• Icelandic:slagsmál
• Ido:kombato(io)
• Italian:battaglia(it)
• Japanese:Chiến đấu(ja)(せんとう, sentō)
• Korean:싸움(ko)(ssaum),전투( chiến đấu )(ko)(jeontu),교전( giao chiến )(ko)(gyojeon)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish:کارزان(ckb)(karzan)

  Northern Kurdish:ceng(ku),şer(ku),şerr(ku)

• Latin:proelium(la),pugna(la)
• Macedonian:би́ткаf(bítka),бојm(boj),бо́рбаf(bórba)
• Norman:combatm(Jersey)
• Norwegian:slagsmål(no)
• Old English:gūþf,gefeohtn,campm
• Ottoman Turkish:صاواش(savaş),ناورد(naverd),پرخاش(perhaş)
• Papiamentu:bataya,bringamentu,pelea,peleya
• Plautdietsch:Schlachtf
• Polish:walka(pl)f
• Portuguese:batalha(pt),combate(pt),luta(pt),peleja(pt),pugna(pt)
• Romanian:luptă(ro),bătaie(ro)f
• Russian:би́тва(ru)f(bítva),бой(ru)m(boj),борьба́(ru)f(borʹbá),сраже́ние(ru)n(sražénije)
• Sanskrit:रण(sa)m(raṇa)
• Scottish Gaelic:cath,còmhragf
• Serbo-Croatian:borbena(sh)f
• Sicilian:battagghia(scn)f,lutta(scn)f
• Spanish:batalla(es)f,acción(es)f,combate(es)m
• Sranan Tongo:feti
• Swahili:mashindano(sw)
• Swedish:kamp(sv)c,batalj(sv)c,slag(sv)n,slagsmål(sv)n,strid(sv)c
• Tarifit:amenɣim
• Telugu:పోటీ పడు(pōṭī paḍu)
• Turkish:muharebe(tr),boğuşmak(tr)
• Welsh:brwydr(cy)f
• West Frisian:fjochtsjen,striid(fy)

Verb

combat(third-person singular simple presentcombats,present participlecombattingorcombating,simple past and past participlecombattedorcombated)

1. (transitive)To fight; to struggle against.

   It has proven very difficult tocombatdrug addiction.

2. (intransitive)Tofight(with); tostruggleforvictory(against).
   • 1671,John Milton,Samson Agonistes:

     Tocombatwith a blind man I disdain.

Translations

to fight; to struggle for victory

• Arabic:قَاتَلَ(ar)(qātala)

  Hijazi Arabic:قاتَل(gātal)

• Bulgarian:боря се(borja se),сражавам се(sražavam se)
• Catalan:combatre(ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin:Phản đối／Phản đối(zh)(fǎnduì)

• Czech:bojovat(cs)
• Dutch:vechten(nl)
• Finnish:taistella(fi),kamppailla(fi)
• French:combattre(fr)
• Galician:combater
• German:kämpfen(de)(gegen, mit),bekämpfen(de)
• Greek:πολεμώ(el)(polemó),καταπολεμώ(el)(katapolemó)
• Hindi:संग्राम(hi)(saṅgrām),युद्ध(hi)(yuddh)
• Italian:combattere(it)
• Latin:proelior
• Macedonian:се бо́ри(se bóri)
• Occitan:combatre(oc)
• Polish:zwalczać(pl)
• Portuguese:combater(pt)
• Romanian:combate(ro)
• Sicilian:cummàttiri(scn)
• Spanish:combatir(es)
• Swedish:bekämpa(sv)
• Welsh:brwydro(cy)

Anagrams

• M.B. coat,tombac

Catalan

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):(Central)[kumˈbat]
• IPA^(key):(Balearic,Valencia)[komˈbat]
• Rhymes:-at

Etymology 1

Deverbalfromcombatre.First attested in 1490.

Noun

combatm(pluralcombats)

1. combat

Etymology 2

Verb

combat

1. inflection ofcombatre:
   1. third-personsingularpresentindicative
   2. second-personsingularimperative

Further reading

• “combat”inDiccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició,Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “combat”inDiccionari normatiu valencià,Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “combat”inDiccionari català-valencià-balear,Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

French

Etymology

Fromcombattre.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):/kɔ̃.ba/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Homophone:combats

Noun

combatm(pluralcombats)

1. combat(hostile interaction)
2. (figuratively)combat(contest; competition)
3. (in theplural)battle;military combat

Derived terms

• avion de combat
• branle-bas de combat
• char de combat
• combat à mort
• combat de coqs
• combat rapproché
• hors de combat

Verb

combat

1. third-personsingularpresentindicativeofcombattre

Further reading

• “combat”,inTrésor de la langue française informatisé[Digitized Treasury of the French Language],2012.

Norman

Etymology

(Thisetymologyis missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at theEtymology scriptorium.)

Noun

combatm(pluralcombats)

1. (Jersey)combat

Romanian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):[komˈbat]

Verb

combat

1. inflection ofcombate:
   1. first-personsingularpresentindicative/subjunctive
   2. third-personpluralpresentindicative