battle

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a hostile meeting of opposing military forces in the course of a war

   Grant won a decisive victory in the battle of Chickamauga

2. 2
   verb

   to contend against in or as if in a battle

   We battled our enemies.

3. 3
   noun

   A contest, a struggle.

   the battle of life

4. 4
   noun

   A division of an army; a battalion.

   Thenne kyng Arthur made redy his hooſt in x batails and Nero was redy in the felde afore the caſtel Tarabil with a grete hooſt / & he had x batails with many mo peple than Arthur had […]

5. 5
   noun

   The main body of an army, as distinct from the vanguard and rear; the battalia.

   Iohn Duke of Norfolke, Thomas Earle of Surrey, Shall haue the leading of the Foot and Horſe. They thus directed, we will fllow ^([sic]) In the maine Battell, whose puiſſance on either ſide Shall be well-winged with our cheefeſt Horſe: This, and Saint George to boote.

6. 6
   verb

   To join in battle; to contend in fight

   Scientists always battle over theories.

7. 7
   verb

   To fight or struggle; to enter into a battle with.

   She has been battling cancer for years.

8. 8
   adj

   Of grass or pasture: nutritious to cattle or sheep; fattening, nourishing.

   battle grass    battle pasture

Etymology

From Middle English batel, batell, batelle, batayle, bataylle, borrowed from Old French bataille, from Late Latin battālia, variant of battuālia (“fighting and fencing exercises”) from Latin battuō (“to strike, hit, beat, fight”), of uncertain origin. Possibly from a Gaulish or Proto-Germanic root from Proto-Indo-European *bʰedʰ- (“to stab, dig”), related to Old English beado (“battle”); or possibly from a Proto-Indo-European *bʰew- (“to hit, strike, beat”). Doublet of battalia and battel. Displaced native Old English ġefeoht, beado, camp, and wīg (“battle”), among others.