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militare

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Etymology and origin of the Italian word militare

militare1 to serve as a soldier

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
before 1375, Boccaccio
Borrowed from
Latin milito
Ultimate origin
Latin mīles
Etymology tree of militare1
inherited borrowed derived
Latin milito
Italian militare

Pronunciation

  • /mi.liˈta.re/[1]

Forms

militare (first-person singular present mìlito, first-person singular past historic militài, past participle militàto, auxiliary avére)[1]

Etymology

The verb is borrowed from Latin mīlitō (“to serve as a soldier”), a learned word, from mīles (“soldier”).[2][3][4][5][6] DEI compares French militer (13th century), and notes that the phrase “milita in suo favore” matches French “cela milite en sa faveur”.[6]

The origin of “mīles” is unclear.[2][7] The ancients linked it with Latin mīlle (“thousand”), as Varro did; de Vaan thinks it tempting to explain it as “one who goes with the thousand”, with the element “-it-” “who goes” of pedes (“foot soldier”) and eques (“horseman”).[2][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is in Boccaccio, before 1375, in the sense “to be enrolled in the militia, to serve as a soldier”.[2][4]

Semantic evolution

The present participle militante is older than the verb in the record: Dante has chiesa militante (before 1321), the Church of the faithful still in the world, and Giovanni Villani uses the participle before 1348.[2] Buti (before 1406) explains milizia by the verb: “Ogni esercizio si può chiamare milizia, perché militare è esercitarsi” (“any exercise can be called service, because to serve is to exercise oneself”).[2]

The figurative senses “to be of support” (1549) and “to take an active part in a cause” (Mazzini, before 1872) followed;[2] militante as a noun for an active party member is in Gramsci (1921–1922), and militanza in 1973.[2] In sports language a player milita in the team he plays for.[5]

Timeline

  • Before 1321 – Dante uses chiesa militante.[2]
  • Before 1375 – Boccaccio uses militare “to serve as a soldier”.[2]
  • 1549 – The sense “to be of support” is recorded.[2]
  • Before 1872 – Mazzini uses it for taking an active part.[2]
  • 1921–1922 – Gramsci uses militante as a noun.[2]
  • 1973 – Militanza is recorded.[2]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To serve as a soldier in an army or a corps: Suo nonno aveva militato in marina durante la guerra.[4][5][8]
  2. To be an active member of a party, a movement or an organisation; to work for an idea.[4][5][8]
  3. (sports) To play for a team.[5]
  4. Of reasons or facts, to tell for or against something: Troppe prove militano contro la sua versione dei fatti.[4][5][8]

Word family

  • militante
  • militanza

militare2 military; soldier

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
c. 1336, Boccaccio
Borrowed from
Latin militaris
Ultimate origin
Latin mīles
Etymology tree of militare2
inherited borrowed derived
Latin miles
Latin militaris
English military
French militaire
Italian militare
From the same root · militare2
Latin commilitium ← miles
Latin militarius ← miles
Latin militariter ← militaris

Pronunciation

  • /mi.liˈta.re/[1]

Forms

militare (plural militari), adjective; noun m and f[1]

Etymology

The adjective is borrowed from Latin mīlitāris (“of soldiers, military”), formed from mīles (“soldier”) with the suffix -āris.[3][5][9][1] It is a learned word in all the Romance languages: French militaire, Spanish militar, Portuguese militar and Romanian militar.[10][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The adjective is first recorded in Boccaccio, about 1336, for what concerns the militia, soldiers and the armed forces.[2][4]

Semantic evolution

The adverb militarmente appears in a 14th-century translation of Livy.[2] The noun militare “serviceman” is recorded in 1693 in Magalotti; it was still felt as recent, and objected to, in 1848.[2]

militarismo (1861, Cattaneo), militarizzare (1853) and militarizzazione (1877) reproduce French militarisme, militariser and militarisation, and the purists condemned them.[2] Later formations are militaresco (1891), militesente (1918), “exempt from military service”, and militassolto (1969), “having done one's military service”, one of the short forms of classified advertisements.[2][3] Fare il militare is to do one's military service.[5]

Timeline

  • c. 1336 – Boccaccio uses the adjective.[2]
  • 14th century – Militarmente is recorded.[2]
  • 1693 – The noun “serviceman” is recorded in Magalotti.[2]
  • 1853 – Militarizzare is recorded.[2]
  • 1861 – Cattaneo uses militarismo.[2]
  • 1918 – Militesente is recorded.[2]
  • 1969 – Militassolto is recorded.[3]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. military: of the armed forces and those who serve in them: Il governo ha aumentato le spese militari.[4][5][8]
  2. Reserved for the armed forces: Qui non si può entrare: è una zona militare.[4][5]
  3. Typical of soldiers: Cammina con un passo militare.[4][5]

Noun

  1. A member of the armed forces, a serviceman, as opposed to a civilian.[4][5][8]
  2. A private or a non-commissioned soldier.[4][5]

Word family

  • militarmente
  • militarismo
  • militarista
  • militaristico
  • militaresco
  • militarizzare
  • militarizzazione
  • smilitarizzare
  • demilitarizzare
  • militesente
  • militassolto
  • paramilitare

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  3. ^ a b c d e Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
  6. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2459
  7. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  8. ^ a b c d e Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  9. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  10. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh

Related etymologies

  • no · also from Latin
  • cosa · also from Latin
  • a · also from Latin
  • mio · also from Latin
  • uno · also from Latin
  • si · also from Latin
  • sapere · also from Latin
  • fare · also from Latin
Cite this entry

“Militare.” Etymologically, 21 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/it/militare. Accessed 22 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·