1. a military force that is raised from the civil population to supplement a regular army in an emergency: "creating a militia was no answer to the army's manpower problem"
▪ a military force that engages in rebel or terrorist activities in opposition to a regular army.
▪ (in the US) all able-bodied citizens eligible by law to be called on to provide military service supplementary to the regular armed forces.
Word Originlate 16th century (in sense ‘system of military discipline and tactics’): from Latin, literally ‘military service’, from miles, milit- ‘soldier’.
