Military
late Middle English: from French militaire or Latin militaris, from miles, milit- ‘soldier’.
wiktionary
From Middle English militari, from Old French militaire, from Latin mīlitāris, from mīles(“soldier”).
etymonline
military (adj.)
mid-15c., militari, "pertaining to or befitting soldiers; used, done, or brought about by soldiers," from Old French militaire (14c.) and directly from Latin militaris "of soldiers or war, of military service, warlike," from miles (genitive militis) "soldier," a word of unknown origin.
Perhaps ultimately from Etruscan, or else meaning "one who marches in a troop," and thus connected to Sanskrit melah "assembly," Greek homilos "assembled crowd, throng." De Vaan writes, "It is tempting to connect mīlia [pl.] 'thousand(s)', hence *mīli-it- 'who goes with/by the thousand' ...." Related: Militarily. Old English had militisc, from Latin.
Military police is from 1827. Military age, at which one becomes liable to military service, is by 1737. Military-industrial complex was coined 1961 in the farewell speech of U.S. president Dwight D. Eisenhower.
military (n.)
"soldiers generally," 1757, from military (adj.); commonly only with the definite article. Earlier, "a military man" (1736).
