combatant

Definition

A person engaged in combat, often armed.

Etymology

Inherited from late Middle English combataunt, from Middle French combatant. By surface analysis, combat + -ant. Doublet of combattant.

Example Sentences

• "Gladiators were combatants who fought to the death to entertain the public."
• "Come hither, you that would be combatants: Henceforth I charge you, as you love our favour, Quite to forget this quarrel and the cause."
• "On the passage, one day, for the diversion of those gentlemen, all the boys were called on the quarter deck, and were paired proportionably, and then made to fight; after which the gentlemen gave the combatants from five to nine shillings each."