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Definition of militia noun from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

militia

noun
 
/məˈlɪʃə/
 
/məˈlɪʃə/
[singular + singular or plural verb]
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  1. a group of people who are not professional soldiers but who have had military training and can act as an army
    • He said he would call out the state militia if the rebels did not surrender.
    • The anarchists started to form volunteer militias.
    • a highly armed militia
    • The militia was/were there to enforce order.
    Topics War and conflictc1
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective
    • armed
    • volunteer
    • local
    verb + militia
    • join
    • serve in
    • organize
    militia + noun
    • company
    • forces
    • group
    See full entry
    Word Originlate 16th cent.: from Latin, literally ‘military service’, from miles, milit- ‘soldier’.
See militia in the Oxford Advanced American Dictionary
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noun
 
 
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