| 释义 |
belligerent, a. and n.|bɛˈlɪdʒərənt|
Also 6–8 -gerant.
[The earlier belligerant (cf. F. belligérant) was ad. L. belligerānt-em, pr. pple. of belligerāre to wage war: see belligerate, -ous. The current spelling, if due to imitation of L. gerentem, is etymologically erroneous, since the word is not derived from gerĕre; but cf. magnific-ent.]
A. adj.
1. Waging or carrying on regular recognized war; actually engaged in hostilities; formerly also said of warlike engines, and the like.
1577Dee Relat. Spir. i. (1659) 171 Four..belligerant Castles, out of the which sounded Trumpets thrice. 1765Tucker Lt. Nat. II. 408 Religion and reason are so far from being belligerent powers..that they join in alliance. a1773Chesterfield (T.) The belligerent and contracting parties. 1775Johnson, Belligerant, waging war. Dict. [i.e. from some dictionary.] 1846Prescott Ferd. & Is. I. iv. 213 A truce of six months between the belligerent parties.
2. fig. or transf. to other hostilities.
1809W. Irving Knickerb. (1861) 117 He assumed a most belligerent look. 1812Examiner 11 May 290/2 The belligerent journalists..are unanimously for the military. 1850Thackeray Pendennis xlvi (1884) 458 Costigan called for a ‘waither’ with such a belligerent voice.
3. attrib. from the n.: Of or pertaining to belligerents.
1865Bright Canada, Sp. 13 Mar. (1876) 68 The acknowledgment of the belligerent rights of the South. 1881J. Westlake in Academy 15 Jan. 41/2 Controversies..concerning the capture of private belligerent property at sea.
B. n.
1. A nation, party, or person waging regular war (recognized by the law of nations).
1811Hist. Eur. in Ann. Reg. 75/2 The common rules between civilized belligerents. 1839Hallam Hist. Lit. II. ii. iv. §86 War itself..even for the advantage of the belligerents, had its rules. 1864Times 22 Dec., Deprived the blockaded Power of its rights as a maritime belligerent.
2. fig. or transf. to other hostile agents.
1839Dickens Nich. Nick. ii, A loud shout attracted the attention of even the belligerents [i.e. policemen]. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. xviii, Out of Parliament..the belligerents were by no means scrupulous about the means which they employed. |