Bellicose

Part of speech: adjective

Pronunciation: /ˈbɛlɪkoʊs/

Definitions

1. Aggressively hostile and eager to fight or engage in conflict
2. Demonstrating a tendency toward aggression and a readiness to provoke conflict or war
3. Characterized by a violent disposition and a desire for confrontation, often leading to hostilities

Etymology: Latin "bellum" meant "war," but the older form "duellum" shows the word's ancient kinship with the number two: "duellum" was a contest between two sides, and the same root gave English "duel." The Latin adjective "bellicosus" was built from "bellicus" (warlike) plus the suffix "-osus," meaning "full of," so it literally meant "full of war." That is the whole of the story: the word passed into Middle English as "bellicose," and its sense of being eager to fight has stayed close to the original Latin. The term "bellicus" itself carried a military flavour in Latin, as in the phrase "bellicum signum," a war signal such as a trumpet call. Readers may notice that "belligerent" has a similar build, from "bellum" plus "gerere," to wage, so the two words share the same war root.

Synonyms: warlike, aggressive, combative, hostile, pugnacious

Antonyms: peaceful, pacifist, nonviolent