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martial

mart·ial/ˈmɑɹʃəl/adjective

martial is spelled M-A-R-T-I-A-L: 7 letters and 2 syllables (mart·ial). It appears 11 times per million words in written English, the 6,456th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data, counting Martial, the name). People search “marshal vs martial” about 50 times a month (Google, United States). As an adjective, martial means “Of, relating to, or suggestive of war; warlike” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in martial?

Letters7: M-A-R-T-I-A-L
Syllables2: mart·ial
In writing11 times per million words; the 6,456th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Pairs people search
Sounds like
Rhymes with
Same letters

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is martial?

Martial appears 11 times per million words in written English, the 6,456th most frequent word form in the list. The list counts every capitalisation together, so this includes Martial, the name.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce martial?

  • UK /ˈmɑːʃəl/
  • US /ˈmɑɹʃəl/

Martial has 2 syllables, split mart·ial in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-martial.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with martial

Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).

marshal vs martial50 G

Sounds like: marshal (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).

Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

What rhymes with martial?

2 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as martial from its last stressed vowel (/ɑɹʃəl/):

Spelled with the same letters in another order: marital.

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of martial

  • more martial comparative
  • most martial superlative
  • martiall

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does martial mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

adjective

  1. 1

    Of, relating to, or suggestive of war; warlike.

  2. 2

    Connected with or relating to armed forces or the profession of arms or military life.

  3. 3

    Characteristic of or befitting a warrior; having a military bearing; soldierly.

  4. 4

    obsoletePertaining to the astrological influence of the planet Mars.

  5. 5

    obsoleteOf or relating to the planet Mars; Martian.

  6. 6

    obsoleteContaining, or relating to, iron (which was symbolically associated with the planet Mars by alchemists); chalybeate, ferric, ferrous.

    martial preparations martial flowers (a reddish crystalline salt of iron)

noun

  1. 1

    obsoleteA soldier, a warrior.

  2. 2

    obsoleteA celestial object under the astrological influence of the planet Mars.

  3. 3

    obsoleteSynonym of Martian (“inhabitant of the planet Mars”).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Martial in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchmartial (of, relating to, or suggestive of war – see…)
Germankriegerisch, martialisch, kampflustig (of, relating to, or suggestive of war – see…), soldatisch, militärisch (relating to or connected with armed forces or…)
Portuguesemarcial, bélico (of, relating to, or suggestive of war – see…), soldadesco (characteristic of or befitting a warrior)
Spanishmarcial (of, relating to, or suggestive of war – see…), soldadesco, castrense (characteristic of or befitting a warrior)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does martial come from?

From Middle English martial, marcial, mercial, mercialle (“relating to war, warlike; military; for use in fighting or warfare; brave, hardy; combative, fierce; ruthless, vicious; domineering, overbearing”), from Middle French martial (modern French martial (“martial”)), or directly from its etymon Latin mārtiālis (“of or pertaining to Mars, the Roman god of war”), from Mārtius (“of or pertaining to Mars”) + -ālis (suffix forming adjectives of relationship). The English word is cognate with Italian marziale (“martial”), Portuguese marcial (“martial”), Spanish marcial (“martial”).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after martial