embattled
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: ipa: /ɛmˈbætl̩d/
ipa: /ɪm-/
ipa: /ɛmˈbæt(ə)ld/
ipa: /ɪm-/
ipa: [-ɾ(ə)ld]
Forms: form: more embattled
form: most embattled
Etymology: From embattle (“to equip as for battle”) + -ed.
Senses: examples: text: If you knevv hovv ſtrong and full of ſtratagems the diuel vvere, vvith hovve many Legions of luſtfull deſires he commeth embattailed againſt you: vvhat ſecrete ambuſhes of temptations he hath layde to intrappe you, then vvoulde you gather your ſelues into one bodie to reſiſt him: […]
ref: 1593, Tho[mas] Nashe, Christs Teares Over Ierusalem. […], London: […] Iames Roberts, and are to be solde by Andrewe Wise, […], →OCLC, folio 8, verso:
text: O Prince, O Chief of many Throned Powers, / That led th' imbattelld Seraphim to Warr / Under thy conduct, and in dreadful deeds / Fearleſs, endanger'd Heav'ns perpetual King; […]
ref: 1667, John Milton, “Book I”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC, lines 128–131:
text: I fight vvith Hector and his hoſt, alone, / Left, hemm'd around by multitudes, I fall; / For Hector, by his vvhole imbattled force / Attended, comes.
ref: 1791, Homer, “[The Iliad.] Book XVII.”, in W[illiam] Cowper, transl., The Iliad and Odyssey of Homer, Translated into Blank Verse, […], volume I, London: […] J[oseph] Johnson, […], →OCLC, page 454, lines 114–117:
text: [T]he imperial city stood released / From bondage threatened by the embattled East, […]
ref: 1816 February 4 (date written), William Wordsworth, “[Miscellaneous Pieces, […].] Sonnet [February 1816].”, in Thanksgiving Ode, January 18, 1816. With Other Short Pieces, […], London: […] Thomas Davison, […]; for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, […], published 1816, →OCLC, page 37:
text: [Christoph] Meiners has gone so far as to suppose a real confederacy to have been formed […] to overthrow, by means of this controversy, the embattled legions of ignorance.
ref: 1837–1839, Henry Hallam, “On the Literature of Europe from 1500 to 1520”, in Introduction to the Literature of Europe, in the Fifteenth, Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, volume I, London: John Murray, […], →OCLC, paragraph 53, page 408:
glosses: Armed or prepared for battle (literally or figuratively).
examples: text: The Element euery night vvas embattailed vvith Armed men, skyrmiſhing and conflicting amongſt themeſlues; and the imperiall Eagles of Rome, vvere plainly there diſplayed to all mens ſight.
ref: 1593, Tho[mas] Nashe, Christs Teares Over Ierusalem. […], London: […] Iames Roberts, and are to be solde by Andrewe Wise, […], →OCLC, folio 28, recto:
glosses: Of a place: occupied or surrounded by armed troops (also figuratively).
examples: text: [N]o ſubject can build a caſtle, or houſe of ſtrength imbatteled, or other fortreſs defenſible, vvithout the licence of the king; for the danger vvhich might enſue, if every man at his pleaſure might do it.
ref: 1765, William Blackstone, “Of the King’s Prerogative”, in Commentaries on the Laws of England, book I (Of the Rights of Persons), Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page 255:
glosses: Of a place: strengthened so as to withstand attacks; fortified.
examples: text: Now finding herself under rapid and accurate fire from the Alabama and Washington, Nagato is embattled, whilst Yamato has to switch to partially engage Iowa.
ref: 2021 May 5, Drachinifel [pseudonym], 31:57 from the start, in Battle of Samar – What if TF34 [Task Force 34] was There?, via YouTube, archived from the original on 08 Aug 2022:
synonyms: assailed
threatened
glosses: Subject to or troubled by attacks, controversy, or pressure.
Derived terms: unembattled