military

The word “military” means relating to soldiers, armies, or armed forces. In plain terms, to do with soldiers and armed forces, or the armed forces themselves.

“Military” is pronounced MIH-liht-ree (/ˈmɪlɪtɛɹi/ in IPA).

Here is “military” used in a sentence: “He comes from a military family.”

Depending on how it is used, “military” can be an adjective and a noun.

The word “military” comes from Latin. From Latin mīlitāris, "of a soldier," from mīles, "soldier.".

“Military” is a very common word in modern English, usually learned at around the A2 level.

“Military” has 2 distinct senses listed in this dictionary. The most common is: relating to soldiers, armies, or armed forces.

Military relates to soldiers, armies, and armed forces; civilian relates to people and life outside them. A military hospital serves the armed forces, while a civilian hospital serves the general public. The two are opposites: military belongs to the world of defence and warfare, civilian to ordinary, non-armed society.

The army is one branch of the armed forces, fighting mainly on land. The military is the whole, covering the army, navy, air force, and other services together. So every army is part of the military, but the military is far broader than the army alone.

Yes. Although military is mainly an adjective, it also works as a noun in the phrase 'the military', meaning a country's armed forces taken together. For example, 'the military was deployed' treats all the services as a single body, rather than describing something as military in character.

Military describes anything tied to armed forces: military uniforms, a military base, military training, or a military operation. Used as a noun, 'the military' means the armed forces as a whole. In every case the word points to soldiers and the institutions of national defence.