Meanings
plural anabases
- historicalA military march up-country, especially that of Cyrus the Younger into Asia.
The Wordsworthian journey to the source […] is more of an amble than an anabasis or strenuous heroic quest.
1989, Frederic Stewart Colwell, Rivermen, page 472 more examples
During the French anabasis to Moscow he entered our service, made himself a prodigious favorite with the whole imperial family, and even now is only in his twenty−second year.
1838, Thomas de Quincey, The Avenger‘I have a feeling that if we follow a scent of spring on the air with sufficient eagerness we’ll come to a south without snow more quickly than we think. Thalassa, thalassa. This is what the Greeks called an anabasis.’ They looked at him as if he were barmy.
1989, Anthony Burgess, Any Old Iron - obsoleteThe first period, or increase, of a disease; augmentation.
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
- Ancient Greekἀνάβασις“a going up, an ascent”
- Englishanabasis
From Ancient Greek ἀνάβασις (anábasis, “a going up, an ascent”), from ἀναβαίνω (anabaínō), from ᾰ̓νᾰ- (ănă-, “up”) + βαίνω (baínō, “to go”). Compare typologically Proto-West Germanic *raisu (“a travel, journey”) (akin to Proto-Germanic *raizijaną (“to cause (someone, something) to rise; raise”)) (<< Proto-Indo-European *h₁rey- (“to rise, arise”)).
More words from Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Czech anabáze
- anabázemilitary march up-country
German Anabasis
- Anabasismilitary march up-country
Japanese アナバシス
- アナバシス (anabashisu)military march up-country
Portuguese anábase
- anábasemilitary march up-country
Russian ана́басис, марш
- ана́басис (anábasis)military march up-country
- марш (marš)military march up-country
- похо́д (poxód)military march up-country
Spanish anábasis
- anábasismilitary march up-country
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
anabasis. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/anabasis
“anabasis.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/anabasis. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “anabasis,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/anabasis.
Source: anabasis on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.