| 释义 |
militant, a. and n.|ˈmɪlɪtənt|
[a. F. militant, a. L. mīlitant-em, pr. pple. of mīlitāre to serve as a soldier, wage war (see militate v.), f. mīlit-, mīles soldier.]
A. adj.
1. a. Engaged in warfare, warring. Church militant: see church 4 b.
1413Pilgr. Sowle (Caxton) v. vi. (1859) 76 The chirche militant, that laboureth here in erthe. 1500–20Dunbar Poems lxx. 19 Thow, that art of mercy militant. c1550Coverdale Carrying Christ's Cross viii. 94 Yet shoulde they [sc. the departed] in this case be discerned from the mylitaunte members, they beyng at reste. 1590Spenser F.Q. ii. viii. 2 How oft do they with golden pineons cleave The flitting skyes..Against fowle feendes to ayd us militant! 1615R. Brathwait Strappado (1878) 223 For his abiding, hee's as in a Tent, Wherein hees militant, not permanent. 1672Wilkins Nat. Relig. 251 Our condition, whilst we are in this world, is militant, wherein every one is without reluctancy to submit to the orders of his great captain or general. 1755Young Centaur v. Wks. 1757 IV. 223 This is a militant state; nor must man unbuckle his armour, till he puts on his shroud. 1873J. H. Newman Hist. Sk. III. i. 1 The Church is ever militant; sometimes she gains, sometimes she loses.
b. Sociol. Epithet employed by Spencer for a system of social organization in which efficiency in war is the primary object aimed at.
1882H. Spencer Princ. Sociol. §521 II. 662 Under the militant type [of society] the individual is owned by the State.
c. Applied to or adopted as a designation by those who seek political or industrial change by employing or advocating the use of direct action, demonstrations, etc.; freq. applied to union leaders who hold out for high wage settlements, refuse to take part in discussions, etc.
1907M. McMillan in ‘B. Villiers’ Case for Women's Suffrage 114 Why did the militant Suffragette ever come to the door of the House of Commons? 1914E. Pankhurst My own Story i. iii. 37 That visit was one of the contributory causes that led to the foundation of our militant suffrage organisation, the Women's Social and Political Union. 1930Daily Express 6 Oct. 11/6 Mr. Maxton leads a group of I.L.P. members who have brought a militant policy with them. 1960Economist 8 Oct. 120/3 Mr Ted Hill's boilermakers..are incensed at the ‘more militant than thou’ attitude which Mr Greene is thus able to assume. 1969Rep. Comm. on Relations with Junior Members Univ. Oxf. 158 Militant students believe that..they have a special position and function. 1975Times 10 Apr. 17/3 The militant left are a menace to the welfare of Europe.
d. Militant tendency: a Trotskyist political organization, orig. comprising the supporters of the weekly newspaper Militant. See B. 1 d below.
This organization has at no time been an official subdivision of the British Labour Party; however, in the mid-1980s, it was alleged to be involved in infiltration of the Labour Party, and a number of its members were expelled from Labour Party membership.
[1964R. Protz Let. in Observer 31 Aug. (1975) 2/3 Grant and Co's insistence not only that Militant should be a ‘tendency’ paper but that it must also be a ‘youth and labour’ paper. 1975B. Castle Diaries (1980) 565 Reg Underhill's document..stating..that the Marxist ‘Militant’ group has full-time organizers and that all but one of the eleven members of the Young Socialists' Executive have ‘Militant’ tendencies.] 1979Economist 7 Apr. 30/3 The Militant Tendency is just another faction in the Labour Party. 1980[see tendency 1 e]. 1983Listener 2 June 6/2 Minor confusions in the programme and the campaign, like Polaris and his appearance on platforms with supporters of Militant Tendency. 1984M. Crick Militant iii. 54 By 1967 the Militant tendency, as it was now becoming known..was the sole significant Trotskyist group left inside the LPYS. 1985Christian Science Monitor 23 Dec. 7/2 They belong to the Militant tendency, a Trotskyite faction..dedicated to revolutionary struggle.
†2. Of a standard: Military. Obs.
1483Caxton Gold. Leg. 22 b/1, The kynge of heven perdurable hath hys signes mylytant in the chirche. 1609Holland Amm. Marcell. Annot. b j, The militant ensignes or banners in the Romane legion.
3. Combative.
1603Florio Montaigne i. xlix. 161 He would maintaine by militant reasons [orig. par viues raisons] that the waste was in his right place. 1809–10Coleridge Friend (1865) 57 That we be sedulous, yea, and militant in the endeavour to reason aright, is His implied command. 1841Myers Cath. Th. iii. §40. 147 This is a condition which must instigate to resistance in the most pacific, and to rebellion in the more militant. 1903J. Willcock Gt. Marquess vi. 88 The expenses of the militant Presbyterians.
B. n.
a. One engaged in war or strife.
1610G. Fletcher Christ's Vict. ii. xxx, Looking down on His weake militants. 1643Sir T. Browne Relig. Med. ii. §3 Even amongst wiser militants, how many wounds have been given, and credits slain. 1814Southey Let. to J. White 2 May in Life (1850) IV. 74 Horsley was the militant of the last generation. 1900Daily News 6 Apr. 6/5 They [Anarchists in England] are divided into two bodies: ‘Idealists’ and ‘Militants’.
b. A member of the military profession.
1842United Service Mag. ii. 540 Will this modicum of embryo scientific militants suffice for every regiment?
c. A person who is a militant in the senses above.
1909Englishwoman Apr. 323 That bias has been greatly intensified amongst almost all classes of suffragists by the tactics of the militants. 1914E. Pankhurst My own Story i, (heading) The making of a Militant. 1939Theology XXXIX. 437 The lives of certain of the militants reveal that Jocism stands for strength through holiness and self-sacrifice. 1968Daily Tel. 12 Nov. 25/1 Ultra-left militants in the Electrical Trades Union are planning another demonstration today. 1969New Yorker 17 May 114/2 A mysterious black militant. 1973Black World Sept. 96/2 The young militants look down upon Anna's poetry. 1975Daily Mirror 29 Apr. 4 They defeated a bid by union militants for an increase which would have broken the Social Contract. 1975Times Lit. Suppl. 9 May 512/5 Intransigent NUJ [sc. National Union of Journalists] militants who now say they will discuss no press charter with the proprietors.
d. spec. One who sympathizes with the views expressed in the Trotskyist newspaper Militant, set up in 1964; a supporter of the Militant tendency (see A. 1 d above).
[1944J. P. Cannon Hist. Amer. Trotskyism x. 193 The Militant was the name of the official organ of the American Trotskyists from the very beginning{ddd}The Militant signified the party worker, the party activist, the party fighter.] 1970Militant Nov. 4/3 Now they are not ballot-rigging: they are preventing militants' names from even appearing on the ballot-papers! 1979Economist 7 Apr. 30/3 The Militants hold all the seats on the Labour Party's Young Socialists' executive. 1985Christian Science Monitor 23 Dec. 8/3 The booting out of Militants from party membership..will represent yet another victory for moderation.
e. ellipt. for Militant tendency.
1980Economist 19 Jan. 18/2 The major advance which Militant has made inside the Labour party is to capture the official youth organisation. 1986Tribune 12 Sept. 7/1 She..was one of those who walked out of the NEC's hearings into Militant.
Hence ˈmilitantness, the quality of being militant (1727 in Bailey, vol. II). |