different between war vs civilwar

English

Alternative forms

• warre (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English werre, from Late Old English werre, wyrre (“armed conflict”) from Old Northern French werre (compare Old French guerre, whence modern French guerre), from Medieval Latin werra, from Frankish *werru (“confusion; quarrel”), from Proto-Indo-European *wers- (“to mix up, confuse, beat, thresh”).

Akin to Old High German werra (“confusion, strife, quarrel”) (German verwirren (“to confuse”)), Old Saxon werran (“to confuse, perplex”), Dutch war (“confusion, disarray”), West Frisian war (“defense, self-defense, struggle", also "confusion”),Old English wyrsa, wiersa (“worse”), Old Norse verri (“worse”) (originally "confounded, mixed up"). There may be a connection with worse, wurst.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /w??/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /w??/
• Homophones: wore, wor (some dialects)
• Rhymes: -??(?)
• (obsolete) IPA^(key): /w??/

Noun

war (countable and uncountable, plural wars)

1. (uncountable) Organized, large-scale, armed conflict between countries or between national, ethnic, or other sizeable groups, usually involving the engagement of military forces.
   • 1917, Henry Ford, chapter 17, in My Life and Work:

     Nobody can deny that war is a profitable business for those who like that kind of money. War is an orgy of money, just as it is an orgy of blood.

   • 1944 June 27, Herbert Hoover, speech in Chicago, Illinois, to the 23rd Republican National Convention; quoted in Linda Carol Harms Case, Bold Beliefs in Camouflage: A–Z Briefings: A Valuable Resource Highlighting an Extraordinary Collection of Prayers, Military Quotations, Scripture Verses, Bible Stories, Hymns, and Testimonies, Relevant to Core Values and Keywords Used by Chaplains, Leaders, Veterans, and Other Members of the American Armed Forces, Victoria, B.C.; Neche, N.D.: FriesenPress, January 2013, ISBN 978-1-77097-632-0, page 203:

     Older men declare war. But it is the youth that must fight and die. It is youth who must inherit the tribulation, the sorrow and the triumphs that are the aftermath of war.

   • 2007, Carlos Ramirez-Faria, Concise Encyclopaedia of World History:

     Germany declared war on France, who reciprocated, on August 3 [1939], and England declared war on Germany on August 4, when Belgium was already under invasion.
2. (countable) A particular conflict of this kind.
   • 1865, Herman Melville, "The Surrender at Appomattox":

     All human tribes glad token see

     In the close of the wars of Grant and Lee.

   • 1999, Bill Clinton at Georgetown University, Washington, D.C, November 8 1999:

     A second challenge will be to implement, with our allies, a plan of stability in the Balkans, so that the region's bitter ethnic problems can no longer be exploited by dictators and Americans do not have to cross the Atlantic again to fight in another war.

3. (countable, by extension) Any conflict, or anything resembling a conflict.
   1. (figuratively) A campaign against something.

      The "war on drugs" is a campaign against the use of narcotic drugs.

      The "war on terror" is a campaign against terrorist crime.

      In the US, conservatives rail against the "war on Christmas".

   2. (business, countable) A bout of fierce competition in trade.

      I reaped the benefit of the car dealerships' price war, getting my car for far less than it's worth.

      The cellular phone companies were engaged in a freebie war, each offering various services thrown in when one purchased a plan.

4. (obsolete, uncountable) Instruments of war.
5. (obsolete) Armed forces.
6. (uncountable) A particular card game for two players, notable for having its outcome predetermined by how the cards are dealt.

Antonyms

• peace

Hyponyms

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

See also

• battle

Verb

war (third-person singular simple present wars, present participle warring, simple past and past participle warred)

1. (intransitive) To engage in conflict (may be followed by "with" to specify the foe).
   • 1595, Samuel Daniel, The First Four Books of the Civil Wars

     To war the Scot, and borders to defend.

   • 1882, George Bernard Shaw, Cashel Byron's Profession, ch. 14:

     This vein of reflection, warring with his inner knowledge that he had been driven by fear and hatred . . ., produced an exhausting whirl in his thoughts.
2. To carry on, as a contest; to wage.

Translations

Anagrams

• RAW, RWA, Rwa, WRA, raw

Breton

Preposition

war

1. on, over

Inflection

Derived terms

• diwar
• diwar-benn

Chuukese

Verb

war

1. to arrive

Dusner

Noun

war

1. (fresh) water

References

• D. C. Kamholz, Austronesians in Papua (2014, Berkeley)

Dutch

Etymology

From Middle Dutch werre, warre (“confusion, disarray, conflict”), from Old Dutch *werra, from Proto-West Germanic *werru (“confusion; quarrel”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??r/
• Rhymes: -?r

Noun

war f (plural warren, diminutive warretje n)

1. confusion, disarray
   • 2016, Josien Wolthuizen & Hanneloes Pen, "Man doodgestoken in fietsenwinkel Nieuw-West", in Het Parool, March 15 2016.

     Volgens een bovenbuurvrouw kwamen hulpdiensten rond 12 uur 's middags naar de fietsenwinkel. "Ik had geen idee wat er aan de hand was. Maar de zoon van de eigenaar kwam eraan en was helemaal in de war. (...)"

2. tangle, mess
   • 2016, "Wist je dat papierklemmen je leven veel gemakkelijker kunnen maken?", in Het Laatste Nieuws, January 29 2016.

     Van statief voor je smartphone tot instrument om oortjes uit de war te houden, tot zelfs een portefeuille. De mogelijkheden met papierklemmen zijn eindeloos, maar de Japanner Venlee geeft je alvast 15 lifehacks.

3. an elevated area on the floor of a body of water, a kind of contraption for luring and catching fish, where nets and fykes could be installed
   • 1949, G. Karsten. ‘Eenvorme, Informe, Yefforme’, De Speelwagen 10, no. 4: 307.

     Welnu, deze stoepen of warren bevonden zich aan de walkant en niet midden in het water.

   • 1667, Handtvesten, privilegien, willekeuren ende ordonnantien der Stadt Enchuysen, p. 345.

     De Schutters van de respective Steden, werden geauctoriseert, alle de Fuycken, buyten de benoemde Warren in de Wateringh staende, te mogen visiteren, of de selve keur mogen houden ofte niet, (...)

Quotations

Derived terms

• in de war brengen
• verwarren
• ontwarren
• warrig
• warhoofd
• warboel

Related terms

• wirwar

Dutch Low Saxon

Alternative forms

• (Low Prussian) wahr

Etymology

From Low German wahr, from Middle Low German wâr, from Old Saxon w?r. Cognate to German wahr.

Adjective

war

1. (in some dialects) true

Elfdalian

Etymology

From Old Norse hvar, from Proto-Germanic *hwar. Cognate with Swedish var.

Adverb

war

1. where, in what place

German

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /va???/
• Homophone: wahr

Verb

war

1. first-person singular preterite of sein
   • 1788, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Egmont

     Ich hätte ihn heiraten können, und glaube, ich war nie in ihn verliebt.

     I could have married him; yet I believe I was never really in love with him.

2. third-person singular preterite of sein
   • 1788, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Egmont

     Gott tröst' ihn! Das war ein Herr!

     God bless him! He was a king indeed!

Luxembourgish

Verb

war

1. first-person singular preterite indicative of sinn
2. third-person singular preterite indicative of sinn

Mpur

Noun

war

1. water

References

• A Sketch of Mpur, in Languages of the Eastern Bird's Head (2002)

Northern Kurdish

Etymology 1

Noun

war m

1. place
2. camp, camping ground

Etymology 2

Noun

war m

1. respect, regard

Old High German

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *w?r, from Proto-Germanic *w?raz, whence also Old English w?r, Old Norse værr.

Adjective

w?r

1. true

Descendants

• Middle High German: w?r
  • Cimbrian: baar
  • German: wahr
  • Hunsrik: woher
  • Luxembourgish: wouer
  • Yiddish: ?????? (vor)

Old Saxon

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *w?r, from Proto-Germanic *w?raz, from Proto-Indo-European *weh?ros.

Adjective

w?r

1. true

Declension

Polish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /var/

Etymology 1

From Proto-Slavic *var?.

Noun

war m inan

1. (obsolete) boiling water or other liquid
2. (obsolete) extreme heat

Declension

Related terms

• (verb) warzy?

Etymology 2

Noun

war m inan

1. var, volt-ampere reactive (unit of electrical power)

Declension

Further reading

• war in Wielki s?ownik j?zyka polskiego, Instytut J?zyka Polskiego PAN
• war in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Scots

Etymology 1

From Middle English were, weren, from Old English w?re, w?ron, w?ren, from Proto-Germanic *w?z-, from Proto-Indo-European *h?wes-.

Verb

war

1. first/second/third-person plural simple past indicative of be; were

Etymology 2

From Middle English werre, from Old Northern French, ultimately a Frankish loan.

Noun

war (plural wars)

1. war

Alternative forms

• wer, weir

References

• “was” in the Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries.

Somali

Noun

war ?

1. news

Tocharian B

Etymology

From Proto-Tocharian *wär, from Proto-Indo-European *wódr? (“water”) through a regular (endocentric) thematicization *udrom. Compare Tocharian A wär.

Noun

war ?

1. water

See also

• ?p