Thus, martial arts are skills of combat and self-defense also practiced as sport. When martial law is declared, a country's armed forces take over the functions of the police.

MARTIAL definition: inclined or disposed to war; warlike. See examples of martial used in a sentence.

Martial professes to be of the school of Catullus, Pedo and Marsus. The epigram bears to this day the form impressed upon it by his unrivalled skill in wordsmithing.

/ ˈmɑr·ʃəl / Add to word list of or suitable for war (Definition of martial from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

martial in British English (ˈmɑːʃəl ) adjective of, relating to, or characteristic of war, soldiers, or the military life

1. inclined or disposed to war; warlike. 2. pertaining to or suitable for war or the armed forces: martial music. 3. characteristic of or befitting a warrior: a martial stride. mar′tial•ism, n. mar′tial•ist, n. n. …

Jan 18, 2026 · martial (comparative more martial, superlative most martial) (comparable) Of, relating to, or suggestive of war; warlike.