court martial

noun

A court where cases of military law are heard.

OriginFrench cour martiale →
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Meanings

nouncourt martial (plural (formal) courts martial or (informal) court martials)

formal plural courts martial · informal plural court martials · alternative court-martial · alternative courtmartial

  1. governmentA court where cases of military law are heard.
  2. governmentA trial before such a tribunal.
verbcourt martial (third-person singular simple present court martials, present participle (US) court martialing or (UK) court martialling, simple past and past participle (US) court martialed or (UK) court martialled)

present singular third person court martials · US participle present court martialing · UK participle present court martialling · US participle past court martialed · US past court martialed · UK participle past court martialled · UK past court martialled · alternative court-martial · alternative courtmartial

  1. transitivegovernmentTo subject to trial in a military court.

Origin

  1. Frenchcour martiale
  2. Englishcourt martial

A calque of French cour martiale, hence the unusual order of an adjective following the noun.

More words from French

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Afrikaans krygsgereg, krygsraad
  • krygsgeregcourt; council of war
  • krygsraadcourt; council of war
Basque gerra-kontseilu, gorte martzial
  • gerra-kontseilucourt; council of war
  • gorte martzialcourt; council of war
  • auzitegi militarracourt; council of war
Bulgarian военен съд
  • военен съд (voenen săd)court; council of war
Catalan cort marcial, tribunal militar
  • cort marcialcourt; council of war
  • tribunal militarcourt; council of war
  • consell de guerracourt; council of war
Chinese Mandarin 軍事法庭 /军事法庭, 軍法處 /军法处
  • 軍事法庭 /军事法庭 (jūnshì fǎtíng)court; council of war
  • 軍法處 /军法处 (jūnfǎchù)court; council of war
  • 舉行軍事審判 /举行军事审判 (jǔxíng jūnshì shěnpàn)to bring to court martial
Czech stanný soud
  • stanný soudcourt; council of war
Danish krigsret, militær domstol
  • krigsretcourt; council of war
  • militær domstolcourt; council of war
Dutch krijgsraad, krijgsgerecht
  • krijgsraadcourt; council of war
  • krijgsgerechtcourt; council of war
  • militaire rechtbankcourt; council of war
Esperanto militkortumo
  • militkortumocourt; council of war
Finnish sotaoikeus, sotatuomioistuin
  • sotaoikeuscourt; council of war
  • sotatuomioistuincourt; council of war
  • sotilasoikeudenkäyntimilitary trial
  • kenttäoikeudenkäyntimilitary trial
  • viedä sotaoikeuteento bring to court martial
French cour martiale, tribunal militaire
  • cour martialecourt; council of war
  • tribunal militairecourt; council of war
  • conseil de guerrecourt; council of war
  • faire comparaître en cour martialeto bring to court martial
German Kriegsgericht, Kriegsrat
  • Kriegsgerichtcourt; council of war
  • Kriegsratcourt; council of war
  • vor ein Kriegsgericht bringento bring to court martial
  • vor das Kriegsgericht stellento bring to court martial
Greek στρατοδικείο, ναυτοδικείο
  • στρατοδικείο (stratodikeío)court; council of war
  • ναυτοδικείο (naftodikeío)court; council of war
Hebrew בית דין צבאי
  • בית דין צבאיcourt; council of war
Hungarian hadbíróság, haditörvényszék
  • hadbíróságcourt; council of war
  • haditörvényszékcourt; council of war
  • hadbíróság/haditörvényszék elé állítto bring to court martial
Indonesian pengadilan militer
  • pengadilan militercourt; council of war
Japanese 軍法会議
  • 軍法会議 (gunpō kaigi)court; council of war
Korean 군사법원, 군법회의
  • 군사법원 (gunsabeobwon)court; council of war
  • 군법회의 (gunbeophoe'ui)court; council of war
Malay mahkamah tentera
  • mahkamah tenteracourt; council of war
Norwegian krigsrett, militær domstol
  • krigsrettcourt; council of war
  • militær domstolcourt; council of war
Polish sąd wojskowy
  • sąd wojskowycourt; council of war
Portuguese corte marcial, tribunal marcial
  • corte marcialcourt; council of war
  • tribunal marcialcourt; council of war
  • conselho de guerracourt; council of war
Romanian curte marțială
  • curte marțialăcourt; council of war
Russian трибуна́л, вое́нный суд
  • трибуна́л (tribunál)court; council of war
  • вое́нный суд (vojénnyj sud)court; council of war
  • трибуна́л (tribunál)military trial
  • вое́нный суд (vojénnyj sud)military trial
Spanish corte marcial, consejo de guerra
  • corte marcialcourt; council of war
  • consejo de guerracourt; council of war
  • tribunal militarcourt; council of war
Swedish krigsrätt, militärdomstol
  • krigsrättcourt; council of war
  • militärdomstolcourt; council of war
  • militärtribunalcourt; council of war
Tagalog hukumang-hukbo, hukumang-militar
  • hukumang-hukbocourt; council of war
  • hukumang-militarcourt; council of war
Cite this entry
APA

court martial. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/court%20martial

MLA

“court martial.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/court%20martial. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “court martial,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/court%20martial.

Source: court martial on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.