court-martial

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a military court, or a trial held by such a court, for members of the armed forces accused of breaking military law

   The officer faced a court-martial for abandoning his post.

2. 2
   verb

   to bring a member of the armed forces before a military court for trial

   The army may court-martial any soldier who deserts during active service.

Recorded in sixteenth-century English, replacing the earlier order martial court. Court came through Old French from Latin cohors ("enclosure, retinue"), while martial comes from Latin martialis ("of Mars, of war"). The verb developed from the military-court noun.

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