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Martial vs War - What's the difference?

martial | war |

As proper nouns the difference between martial and war

is that martial is narrowly applied to certain historic persons (but some of its foreign cognates are modern given names) while war is the personification of war, often depicted in armor, and riding a red horse.

martial

English

Adjective

(en adjective)
  • Of, relating to, or suggestive of war; warlike.
  • * Dryden
    • But peaceful kings, o'er martial people set, / Each other's poise and counterbalance are.
  • Relating to or connected with the armed forces or the profession of arms or military life.
  • (comparable) Characteristic of or befitting a warrior; having a military bearing; soldierly, soldierlike, warriorlike.
  • (medicine, chemistry, obsolete) Relating to, or containing, iron; chalybeate.
    • martial preparations
    martial flowers: a reddish crystalline salt of iron

    Derived terms

    * court martial * martial art * martialism * martialness * martialist * martial law * martially

    See also

    * Mars

    Anagrams

    * ----

    war

    English

    Alternative forms

    * warre (obsolete)

    Noun

  • (uncountable) Organized]], large-scale, armed conflict between [[country, countries or between national, ethnic, or other sizeable groups, usually involving the engagement of military forces.
  • * 1917 , (Henry Ford), My Life and Work , Chapter 17:
    • Nobody can deny that war' is a profitable business for those who like that kind of money. ' War is an orgy of money, just as it is an orgy of blood.
  • * 2007 , Carlos Ramirez-Faria, Concise Encyclopaedia of World History :
    • Germany declared war' on France, who reciprocated, on August 3 [1939], and England declared ' war on Germany on August 4, when Belgium was already under invasion.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-20, volume=408, issue=8845, magazine=(The Economist)
    • , title= Old soldiers? , passage=Whether modern, industrial man is less or more warlike than his hunter-gatherer ancestors is impossible to determine.
  • (countable) A particular conflict of this kind.
  • * 1865 , (Herman Melville), "The Surrender at Appomattox":
    • All human tribes glad token see
    In the close of the wars of .
  • * 1999 , (Bill Clinton) at Georgetown University, Washington, D.C, November 8 1999:
    • A second challenge will be to implement, with our allies, a plan of stability in the Balkans, so that the region's bitter ethnic problems can no longer be exploited by dictators and Americans do not have to cross the Atlantic again to fight in another war .
  • (countable) By extension, any conflict, or anything resembling a conflict.
  • # (figuratively) A campaign against something.
  • The "war on drugs" is a campaign against the use of narcotic drugs.
  • The "war on terror" is a campaign against terrorist crime.
  • In the US, conservatives rail against the "war on Christmas".
  • # (business, countable) A bout of fierce competition in trade.
  • I reaped the benefit of the car dealerships' price war , getting my car for far less than it's worth.
  • The cellular phone companies were engaged in a freebie war , each offering various services thrown in when one purchased a plan.
  • (obsolete, uncountable) Instruments of war.
  • * Prior
    • His complement of stores, and total war .
  • (obsolete) Armed forces.
  • * Milton
    • On their embattled ranks the waves return, / And overwhelm their war .
  • (uncountable) A particular card game for two players, notable for having its outcome predetermined by how the cards are dealt.
  • * 2004 , Karen Salyer McElmurray, Strange Birds in the Tree of Heaven
    • We played crazy eights, war , fifty-two card pickup. Rudy flipped the whole deck across the table at me and the cards sailed to the floor, kings, queens, deuces.

    Antonyms

    * peace

    Derived terms

    * all's fair in love and war * anti-war * civil war * cold war * conventional war * declaration of war * dynastic war * edit war * flame war * gas war * go to war * holy war * hot war * Hundred Years' War * inter-war * laws of war * man of war, man-of-war, man-o-war, man-o'-war * man-o'-war suit * nuclear war * perpetual war * pissing war * Portuguese man-of-war * post-war * pre-war * price war * prisoner of war, , PW * pro-war * proxy war * revert war * ship of war * spoils of war * state of war * theater of war, theatre of war * thumb war * total war * trade war * tug of war * turf war * undeclared war * war- * war between the sexes * war bond * war bonnet * war bride * War Cabinet * war chalk * war chest * war child * war crime * war criminal * war cry * war dance * war-dial * war-drive * warfare * war game, wargame * war groom * war hammer * warhead * war hound * warlord * war machine * warmonger * war of aggression * war of conquest * war of nerves * war of words * war paint, warpaint * war party * warpath * war reparations * war-ridden * warring * warrior * war room * war story * wartime * war to end all wars * war torn, war-torn * war veteran * war whoop * war widow * war zone * world war * World War One * World War Two

    See also

    * battle

    Verb

    (warr)
  • To engage in conflict (may be followed by "with" to specify the foe).
  • * (William Shakespeare), King Henry V , act 3, sc. 1:
    • Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more . . .
    Be copy now to men of grosser blood,
    And teach them how to war .
  • * 1882 , (George Bernard Shaw), Cashel Byron's Profession , ch. 14:
    • This vein of reflection, warring with his inner knowledge that he had been driven by fear and hatred . . ., produced an exhausting whirl in his thoughts.
    To war the Scot, and borders to defend. — Daniel.
  • To carry on, as a contest; to wage.
    • That thou mightest war a good warfare. — Tim. i. 18.

    Statistics

    *

    Anagrams

    * * English terms derived from French ----