state of siege
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.92 in modern English
16
Scrabble Score
12
Letters
1
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
An exceptional legal condition in which constitutional limits on the powers of the government are suspended, usually owing to military necessity and implying martial law.
Example Sentences
- "Several gentlemen of authority of the city of Belfast actually waited upon the Government and requested them not only to abolish the local police force but to proclaim a state of siege in the town of Belfast."
- "As soon as Nicaragua entered the war, Somoza declared a state of siege that remained in effect for four years."
Etymology
Calque of French état de siège, first codified in a 1791 law of the Constituent Assembly during the French Revolution as an aggravated condition of war justifying the subordination of the civilian government to military authorities. Extended to apply to internal rebellion by a French law of 1797; subsequently broadened again in 1849 to denote any political state of emergency.