battle
/ˈbætl̩/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: 4.94 in modern English
8
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
2
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A general action, fight, or encounter, in which all the divisions of an army are or may be engaged; a combat, an engagement.
noun
Clipping of battle buddy.
Example Sentences
- "the battle of life"
- "I returned, and saw vnder the Sunne, That the race is not to the swift, nor the battell to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of vnderstanding, nor yet fauour to men of skil; but time and chance happeneth to them all."
- "[T]he whole intellectual battle that had at its centre the best poem of the best poet of that day, and had the English Revolution among issues of the strife, was quickening the energies within young Foe's [i.e., Daniel Defoe's] mind when his age was twenty."
- "In truth, Tottenham never really looked like taking all three points and this defeat means they face a battle to reach the knockout stages – with their next home game against PAOK Salonika on 30 November likely to prove decisive."
- "Australian broadcaster Clive James has admitted that he is losing his long-fought battle with leukaemia."
- "Thenne kyng Arthur made redy his hooſt in x batails and Nero was redy in the felde afore the caſtel Tarabil with a grete hooſt / & he had x batails with many mo peple than Arthur had […]"
Etymology
From Middle English batel, batell, batelle, batayle, bataylle, borrowed from Old French bataille, from Late Latin battālia, variant of battuālia (“fighting and fencing exercises”) from Latin battuō (“to strike, hit, beat, fight”), of uncertain origin. Possibly from a Gaulish or Proto-Germanic root from Proto-Indo-European *bʰedʰ- (“to stab, dig”), related to Old English beado (“battle”); or possibly from a Proto-Indo-European *bʰew- (“to hit, strike, beat”). Doublet of battalia and battel. Displaced native Old English ġefeoht, beado, camp, and wīg (“battle”), among others.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈbætl̩/
- British English: /ˈbætl̩/
Usage
Inflected Forms
battles (plural)
batail (alternative)
battel (alternative)
battell (alternative)
battles (present, singular)
battling (participle, present)
battled (participle, past)
battled (past)
more battle (comparative)
most battle (superlative)
battil (alternative)
battill (alternative)