Attentats

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Covert or violent acts intended to cause harm or disruption to individuals or groups; planned attacks meant to provoke fear or achieve political, ideological, or criminal objectives; incidents involving deliberate assault or sabotage aimed at a target
2. Deliberate attempts to injure or kill a person or damage property, usually for political or terrorist purposes; coordinated acts of violence executed in secret against a specific target; events marked by aggressive actions designed to intimidate or destabilize
3. Secretive and intentional aggressive actions that threaten safety or security with the goal of causing chaos or influencing an agenda; orchestrated hostile operations that result in injury, destruction, or fear; targeted acts of violence intended to challenge authority or provoke response

Etymology: "Attentats" is simply the plural of "attentat", a noun that came into English as a variant of the older "attemptate", a word meaning an attempt, especially an unlawful or criminal one. Over time that older form was reshaped to resemble the Latin "attentatus", a past participle of "attentare", meaning to try or attempt, and the French "attentat", which carried the same sense of a criminal attempt, often against a person or a state. The result is a word that has kept the flavour of an attempt while narrowing toward violence. Where "attemptate" pointed to any effort that went wrong or overstepped the law, "attentat" settled into the sense of a deliberate, violent assault, the kind of plot aimed at a ruler or public figure. The plural form "attentats" is how English speakers refer to several such acts at once.

Synonyms: attacks, assaults, strikes, bombings

Antonyms: peace, ceasefire