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militate

mi·li·tate

UK/ˈmɪlɪteɪt/ US/ˈmɪlɪˌteɪt/ uncommon obsolete

verb

1.

have force or influence; bring about an effect or change

  • “Politeness militated against this opinion being expressed”

Origin

First attested in 1598; borrowed from Latin mīlitātus, perfect passive participle from mīlitō, see -ate (verb-forming suffix). Semantically from its cognate, French militer.

Related words

Broader terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.