militia
- 1A force of trained civilians serving as an official reserve army, the whole able-bodied population called up in an emergency, or a private armed group outside government control.
Like a volunteer fire brigade, but armed: ordinary people organized for defense rather than full-time soldiers.
The colonial militia mustered at dawn, drawn entirely from local townsfolk and tradesmen.
After the coup, a private militia seized several districts without any official authority.
Note
Behind the word is Latin mīlitia, "military service," built on mīles, "soldier." It named soldiering before it named a body of soldiers. In English the usual plural is militias, though the Latin militiae also exists. The noun works readily as a modifier, as in Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash (1992), where a character scans the water for "militia men."
- 2The national police force in certain countries, such as Belarus.
The militia detained several demonstrators in central Minsk overnight.
Officers of the militia checked travelers' documents at the border crossing.
Similarmilitsia
Note
Here the word reflects a Soviet habit. Calling the police force "militia" rather than "police" began in the USSR and carries on in Belarus and some other countries. Militsia, its doublet, is the same Latin word come into English by a different road, and either may be used. In a report from Minsk, the militia are uniformed officers, not a civilian reserve force, and context usually settles which is meant.
Practice
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Origin
From Latin mīlitia ("army, military force or service"), which derives from mīles ("soldier"). Using "militia" instead of "police" for the police force of Belarus and some other countries began in the USSR.