combatant

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English combatant, also spelled combataunt,^[2][3] borrowed from Old French combatant (“skilled at fighting, warlike”),^[4][5][6][7] the present participle of combatre (“to fight”),^[4][5][7] which was already used as a noun in the 12th century.^[4][5] Merriam-Webster Unabridged and Dictionary.com name the immediate source as Middle French combatant;^[8][3] the modern form is French combattant.^[4][5] The French verb, the source of combat, is from Late Latin *combattō, formed from com- (“together, with”) and battuō (“to beat, fight”),^[4][5] the source of batter.^[5] The OED compares abate and debate, from the same verb with other prefixes.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

As an adjective in heraldry, poised for combat: about 1460, in a book of arms describing three arms holding swords "combattant".^[2][7] Etymonline dates the adjective, "contending, disposed to combat", to the mid-15th century,^[5] and Dictionary.com dates the word to 1425–75.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The heraldic adjective, used especially of two lions rampant facing each other with raised forepaws, came first;^[7][6][2] the OED's first example of it is a Scottish heraldry poem of about 1500.^[4] The noun, a fighter or warrior, appears in 1489 in Caxton's translation of C. de Pisan, and in early use often meant one who fought in single combat.^[4][5] Johnson (1755) defined it as "he that fights with another; duellist; antagonist in arms", quoting Milton's Paradise Lost.^[9] The general adjective, fighting or ready to fight, is recorded in Jonson's Magnetick Lady before 1637 (1632 in the 1989 edition of the OED),^[4][10] and in military use a combatant officer was one who took part in the fighting, as opposed to a noncombatant.^[4] A figurative noun followed in 1646.^[4] In international law a combatant is a person who takes a direct part in hostilities, and "legitimate" combatants are members of armed forces or uniformed militias under military command and bound by the laws of war.^[11]

Timeline

• c. 1460 – adjective, in heraldry, poised for combat, especially of two beasts rampant facing each other.^[2][7] The OED's first record of this sense is from about 1500.^[4]
• 1489 – noun, a fighter or warrior, especially in single combat.^[4][5]
• before 1637 – adjective, fighting or ready to fight.^[4]
• 1646 – noun, used figuratively.^[4]
• 1885 – noun used attributively, merging with the adjective.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A person, group or nation that takes part in a fight, war or struggle: Both combatants agreed to a ceasefire before dawn.^[12][13][8]
2. (law) A person who takes a direct part in hostilities, especially a member of the armed forces under military command.^[11][8]

Adjective

1. Taking part in, or ready for, combat: combatant troops.^[12][13][8]
2. (heraldry) Of two beasts, rampant and facing each other as if fighting.^[8][4][6]

Word family

• noncombatant

Related words

• combat
• combative
• batter
• abate
• debate

Usage notes

In the heraldic sense the word is often spelled combattant, as in modern French.^[4][8][6] Besides /ˈkɒmbətənt/, British speakers also say /ˈkʌmbətənt/ and /kəmˈbatənt/.^[4][12]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d e Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
9. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
10. ^ Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
11. ^ a b Garner, Bryan A., ed. (2004), Black's Law Dictionary, 8th ed., St. Paul, Minn.: Thomson West
12. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
13. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin