# militia

> English word · Noun · IPA /məˈlɪʃə/ · frequency rank #8,578

## Definitions
1. An army of trained civilians, which may be an official reserve army, called upon in time of need, the entire able-bodied population of a state which may also be called upon, or a private force not under government control.
2. Synonym of militsia: the national police force of certain countries (e.g. Belarus).

## Etymology
From Latin mīlitia (“army, military force/service”), from mīles (“soldier”). Doublet of militsia.
The use of "militia" rather than "police" to refer to the police force (of Belarus and some other countries) originated in the USSR.

## Common misspellings (9)
`imlitia`, `miiltia`, `miliita`, `militai`, `milittia`, `millitia`, `miltiia`, `mliitia`, `mmilitia`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/militia