- a person who uses, or is willing to use, force or strong pressure to achieve their aims, especially to achieve social or political change
- Student militants were fighting with the police.
Word Originlate Middle English (in the sense ‘engaged in warfare’): from Old French, or from Latin militant- ‘serving as a soldier’, from the verb militare, from miles, milit- ‘soldier’. The current sense dates from the early 20th cent.Want to learn more?
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militant