Phrase guide

military service

noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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1

noun

Meaning 1

Service in an army or other military organisation, whether as a chosen job (volunteering) or as a result of an involuntary draft (conscription).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

Examples

  • The virtues of national service, including military service, were extolled in the evening's presentations.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: service[Appendix:Glossary

Antonyms: non-military service

Broader terms: national service, public service

2

noun

Meaning 2

land tenure by service in the lord's army

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: service

3

noun

Meaning 3

a force that is a branch of the armed forces

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: armed service, service

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: force, personnel

Narrower terms: army, regular army, ground forces, navy, naval forces, coastguard, Marines, air force, airforce

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

83 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Afrikaans: militêre diens — service in an army
  • Albanian: shërbim ushtarak — service in an army
  • Arabic: خِدْمَة عَسْكَرِيَّة (ḵidma ʕaskariyya) — service in an army
  • Azerbaijani: əsgərlik — service in an army
  • Azerbaijani: hərbi qulluq — service in an army
  • Azerbaijani: hərbi xidmət — service in an army
  • Basque: soldadutza — service in an army
  • Basque: gudaritza — service in an army
  • Basque: soldadugoa — service in an army
  • Basque: soldaduska — service in an army
  • Belarusian: вайско́вая слу́жба (vajskóvaja slúžba) — service in an army
  • Belarusian: вае́нная слу́жба (vajénnaja slúžba) — service in an army
  • Bulgarian: вое́нна слу́жба (voénna slúžba) — service in an army
  • Catalan: servei militar — service in an army
  • Catalan: mili — service in an army
  • Cherokee: ᎠᏂᏲᏍᎩᎢ (aniyosgii) — service in an army
  • Chinese Cantonese: 兵役 (bing1 jik6) — service in an army
  • Chinese: 兵役 (zh-min-nan) — service in an army
  • Chinese Mandarin: 兵役 (bīngyì) — service in an army
  • Czech: vojenská služba — service in an army
  • Czech: vojna — service in an army
  • Danish: militærtjeneste — service in an army
  • Dutch: militaire dienst — service in an army
  • Dutch: legerdienst — service in an army
  • Esperanto: militservo — service in an army
  • Estonian: sõjaväeteenistus — service in an army
  • Finnish: asepalvelus — service in an army
  • Finnish: varusmiespalvelus — service in an army
  • French: service militaire — service in an army
  • Galician: servizo militar — service in an army
  • Galician: mili — service in an army
  • German: Militärdienst — service in an army
  • German: Wehrdienst — service in an army
  • German: Kriegsdienst — service in an army
  • Greek: θητεία (thiteía) — service in an army
  • Greek: στρατιωτική υπηρεσία (stratiotikí ypiresía) — service in an army
  • Greek: στρατιωτική θητεία (stratiotikí thiteía) — service in an army
  • Hungarian: katonai szolgálat — service in an army
  • Indonesian: dinas militer — service in an army
  • Irish: seirbhís mhíleata — service in an army
  • Irish: seirbhís airm — service in an army
  • Italian: servizio militare — service in an army
  • Japanese: 兵役 (heieki) — service in an army
  • Japanese: 軍役 (gun'eki) — service in an army
  • Japanese: 軍役 (gun'yaku) — service in an army
  • Kazakh: әскери қызмет (äskeri qyzmet) — service in an army
  • Korean: 병역 (byeong'yeok) — service in an army
  • Korean: 군역 (gunyeok) — service in an army
  • Kyrgyz: аскердик кызмат (askerdik kızmat) — service in an army
  • Latin: mīlitia — service in an army
  • Latvian: karadienests — service in an army
  • Lithuanian: karo tarnyba — service in an army
  • Lithuanian: kariuomenė — service in an army
  • Macedonian: воена служба (voena služba) — service in an army
  • Mongolian: цэргийн албан (cergiin alban) — service in an army
  • Norwegian Bokmål: militærtjeneste — service in an army
  • Iranian Persian: خِدْمَتِ نِظامی (xedmat-e nezâmi) — service in an army
  • Iranian Persian: خِدْمَتِ سَرْبازی (xedmat-e sarbâzi) — service in an army
  • Polish: służba wojskowa — service in an army
  • Polish: żołnierka — service in an army
  • Portuguese: serviço militar — service in an army
  • Romanian: serviciu militar — service in an army
  • Russian: вое́нная слу́жба (vojénnaja slúžba) — service in an army
  • Russian: во́инская слу́жба (vóinskaja slúžba) — service in an army
  • Serbo-Croatian: војна служба — service in an army
  • Serbo-Croatian: vojna služba — service in an army
  • Slovak: vojenská služba — service in an army
  • Slovene: vojaška služba — service in an army
  • Spanish: servicio militar — service in an army
  • Spanish: mili — service in an army
  • Spanish: colimba — service in an army
  • Spanish: chiri — service in an army
  • Spanish: chepa — service in an army
  • Swedish: militärtjänstgöring — service in an army
  • Swedish: militärtjänst — service in an army
  • Swedish: lumpen — service in an army
  • Tagalog: hukbuhing lingkod — service in an army
  • Tajik: хизмати низомӣ (xizmat-i nizomi) — service in an army
  • Tajik: хизмати сарбозӣ (xizmat-i sarbozi) — service in an army
  • Turkish: askerlik hizmeti — service in an army
  • Ukrainian: військо́ва слу́жба (vijsʹkóva slúžba) — service in an army
  • Uzbek: harbiy xizmat — service in an army
  • Volapük: dünäd — service in an army