Other forms: belligerents
Belligerent means eager to fight or argue. A belligerent tone, belligerent drunk, belligerently refused.
Of a person it describes aggression looking for an outlet rather than a response to provocation. In international law a belligerent is a state or party engaged in armed conflict, and the status carries defined rights and duties. Note belligerence; and that the Latin means waging war, from bellum, which also gives rebel and antebellum but not bellicose's cousin beautiful.
1adjectivebelligerentEager to fight or argue.
“The drunk man grew belligerent and started shouting at the bar staff.”
synonyms: aggressive, combative
2nounpartyA party engaged in armed conflict.
“Both belligerents agreed to a ceasefire over the holidays.”
belligerent is a quality of aggression.
The Latin behind it is war. A belligerent person brings the war into the room and sets it down on the table.
hooks ontowar
Latin belligerans comes from belligerare, to wage war — bellum, war, plus gerere, to carry on. Rebel, bellicose and antebellum come from the same war.
Latin
belligerans — waging war
English, today
belligerent
Built from
From Latin belligerans (“waging war”), present active participle of belligerō (“to wage war”), from belliger (“waging war, warlike”), from bellum (“war”) + -ger (from gerō (“to lead, wage, carry on”)).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA