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battle

Pronunciation: /ˈbætl̩/

The English word “battle” has 11 meanings listed here.

noun

  1. A contest, a struggle.
  2. A one-on-one competition in rapping or breakdance.
  3. A general action, fight, or encounter, in which all the divisions of an army are or may be engaged; a combat, an engagement.
  4. A division of an army; a battalion.
  5. The main body of an army, as distinct from the vanguard and rear; the battalia.

verb

  1. To join in battle; to contend in fight
  2. To fight or struggle; to enter into a battle with.
  3. To feed or nourish (someone or something).
  4. To render (land, soil, etc.) fertile or fruitful.

adjective

  1. Of grass or pasture: nutritious to cattle or sheep; fattening, nourishing.
  2. Of land (originally pastureland) or soil: fertile, fruitful.

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…

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.