combatant
English
Etymology
Inherited from late Middle English combataunt, from Middle French combatant.
Noun
combatant (plural combatants)
- A person engaged in combat, often armed.
- Gladiators were combatants who fought to the death to entertain the public.
- c. 1591, William Shakespeare, Henry VI, Part 1, Act IV, Scene 1,
- Come hither, you that would be combatants:
- Henceforth I charge you, as you love our favour,
- Quite to forget this quarrel and the cause.
- 1789, Olaudah Equiano, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, London: for the author, Volume 1, Chapter 3, p. 112,
- On the passage, one day, for the diversion of those gentlemen, all the boys were called on the quarter deck, and were paired proportionably, and then made to fight; after which the gentlemen gave the combatants from five to nine shillings each.
- 1820, Walter Scott, Ivanhoe, Chapter 12,
- If any combatant was struck down, and unable to recover his feet, his squire or page might enter the lists, and drag his master out of the press; but in that case the knight was adjudged vanquished […]
- 1992, William M. Hutchins and Angele Botros Samaan (translators), Sugar Street by Naguib Mahfouz, New York: Anchor Books, 1993, Chapter 48, p. 271,
- “ […] Don’t you realize that alcohol is an essential part of heroism? The combatant and the drunkard are brothers, you genius.”
Derived terms
Translations
person engaged in combat, often armed
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Adjective
combatant (comparative more combatant, superlative most combatant)
- Contending; disposed to contend.
- 1641, Ben Jonson, The Magnetic Lady, New York: Henry Holt, 1914, Act III, Scene 5, p. 65,
- Their valours are not yet so combatant,
- Or truly antagonistick, as to fight;
- 1641, Ben Jonson, The Magnetic Lady, New York: Henry Holt, 1914, Act III, Scene 5, p. 65,
- Involving combat.
- 1921, John Dos Passos, Three Soldiers, New York: Modern Library, 1932, Part Two, Chapter 1, p. 71,
- He wished he were in a combatant service; he wanted to fight, fight.
- 1921, John Dos Passos, Three Soldiers, New York: Modern Library, 1932, Part Two, Chapter 1, p. 71,
Middle French
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