Meanings
nounmilitia (plural militias or militiae)
plural militias · plural militiae
- An army of trained civilians, which may be an official reserve army, called upon in time of need, the entire able-bodied population of a state which may also be called upon, or a private force not under government control.
He coasts down to a dead stop in the middle of the channel, makes a scan for militia men and wireheads, and finds none.
1992, Neal Stephenson, Snow Crash, page 387 - Synonym of militsia: the national police force of certain countries (e.g. Belarus).
Synonyms: militsia
Synonyms & antonyms
nounSynonym of militsia: the national police force of certain countries (e.g. Belarus).
Similar
More synonyms by meaning
nouncivilians trained as soldiers but not part of the regular army
Similar
Broader
military unitmilitary forcemilitary group
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinmīlitia“army, military force/service”
- Englishmilitia
From Latin mīlitia (“army, military force/service”), from mīles (“soldier”). Doublet of militsia. The use of "militia" rather than "police" to refer to the police force (of Belarus and some other countries) originated in the USSR.
More words from Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic تَنْظِيم مُسَلَّح, جَمَاعَة مُسَلَّحَة
- تَنْظِيم مُسَلَّح (tanẓīm musallaḥ)army of trained civilians called upon in time of need
- جَمَاعَة مُسَلَّحَةarmy of trained civilians called upon in time of need
- مِيلِيشْيَا (mīlīšyā)army of trained civilians called upon in time of need
Basque milizia
- miliziaarmy of trained civilians called upon in time of need
Bulgarian мили́ция
- мили́ция (milícija)army of trained civilians called upon in time of need
Catalan milícia
- milíciaarmy of trained civilians called upon in time of need
Chinese Mandarin 民兵, 國民軍 /国民军
- 民兵 (mínbīng)army of trained civilians called upon in time of need
- 國民軍 /国民军 (guómínjūn)army of trained civilians called upon in time of need
- 義勇軍 /义勇军 (yìyǒngjūn)army of trained civilians called upon in time of need
- 民團 /民团 (míntuán)army of trained civilians called upon in time of need
Czech milice
- milicearmy of trained civilians called upon in time of need
Danish milits
- militsarmy of trained civilians called upon in time of need
Dutch militie
- militiearmy of trained civilians called upon in time of need
Esperanto milicio
- milicioarmy of trained civilians called upon in time of need
Estonian miilits
- miilitsarmy of trained civilians called upon in time of need
Finnish miliisi
- miliisiarmy of trained civilians called upon in time of need
French milice
- milicearmy of trained civilians called upon in time of need
German Miliz, Landwehr
- Milizarmy of trained civilians called upon in time of need
- Landwehrarmy of trained civilians called upon in time of need
- Reservearmy of trained civilians called upon in time of need
- Volksheerarmy of trained civilians called upon in time of need
Hindi नागरिक सेना
- नागरिक सेना (nāgrik senā)army of trained civilians called upon in time of need
Hungarian milícia, polgárőrség
- milíciaarmy of trained civilians called upon in time of need
- polgárőrségarmy of trained civilians called upon in time of need
- nemzetőrségarmy of trained civilians called upon in time of need
Indonesian milisi
- milisiarmy of trained civilians called upon in time of need
Italian milizia
- miliziaarmy of trained civilians called upon in time of need
Japanese 民兵
- 民兵 (minpei)army of trained civilians called upon in time of need
Korean 민병, 시민군
- 민병 (minbyeong)army of trained civilians called upon in time of need
- 시민군 (simin'gun)army of trained civilians called upon in time of need
Lithuanian milicija
- milicijaarmy of trained civilians called upon in time of need
Malay militia
- militiaarmy of trained civilians called upon in time of need
Māori kura takahi puni, kura takai puni
- kura takahi puniarmy of trained civilians called upon in time of need
- kura takai puniarmy of trained civilians called upon in time of need
Persian میلیشیا, میلیس
- میلیشیا (milišyâ)army of trained civilians called upon in time of need
- میلیس (milis)army of trained civilians called upon in time of need
Polish milicja
- milicjaarmy of trained civilians called upon in time of need
Portuguese milícia
- milíciaarmy of trained civilians called upon in time of need
Romanian miliție
- milițiearmy of trained civilians called upon in time of need
Russian мили́ция, наро́дное ополче́ние
- мили́ция (milícija)army of trained civilians called upon in time of need
- наро́дное ополче́ние (naródnoje opolčénije)army of trained civilians called upon in time of need
Slovak milícia
- milíciaarmy of trained civilians called upon in time of need
Spanish milicia
- miliciaarmy of trained civilians called upon in time of need
Swahili mwanamgambo
- mwanamgamboarmy of trained civilians called upon in time of need
Swedish milis
- milisarmy of trained civilians called upon in time of need
Ukrainian мілі́ція
- мілі́ція (milícija)army of trained civilians called upon in time of need
Vietnamese dân quân, dân binh
- dân quânarmy of trained civilians called upon in time of need
- dân binharmy of trained civilians called upon in time of need
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with militia
All rhymes →Cite this entry
APA
militia. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/militia
MLA
“militia.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/militia. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “militia,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/militia.
Source: militia on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.