combatant
noun /ˈkɒmbətənt/
/kəmˈbætnt/
- a person or group involved in fighting in a war or battle
- He was involved in the war, but not as a combatant.
Word Originlate Middle English (as an adjective used in heraldry to describe two lions facing one another with raised forepaws): from Old French, present participle of combatre ‘to fight’, from late Latin combattere, from com- ‘together with’ + battere, variant of Latin batuere ‘to fight’.