Other forms: rebels
A rebel is somebody who fights against the government or against authority. Rebel forces, a rebel without a cause, the rebels advanced.
Whether somebody is a rebel or a freedom fighter is a question of sympathy rather than fact. The noun is stressed on the first syllable and the verb on the second. The Latin means to make war again — a rebel was one who fought after being beaten.
1nounrebelSomebody who fights against the government or authority.
“The rebels took control of the northern towns and blocked the main road.”
rebel is a fighter.
Latin rebellis means waging war again, from re- plus bellum, war. A rebel was one who fought on after defeat.
Latin
rebellis — waging war again; insurgent
Old French
rebelle
Middle English
rebel
English, today
rebel
Built from
From Middle English rebel, rebell, from Old French rebelle, from Latin rebellis (“waging war again; insurgent”), from rebellō (“to wage war again, fight back”), from re- (“again, back”) + bellō (“to wage war”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA