battalia

Etymology

Borrowed from Late Latin battālia, variant of battuālia (“military exercises”), from Latin battuō (“to strike, beat”), from Gaulish. Doublet of battle.

noun

1. (obsolete, uncountable) Order of battle; disposition or arrangement of troops or of a naval force, ready for action.
   […]but we find, by a sad experience, that few questions are well stated; and when they are, they are not consented to; and when they are agreed on by both sides that they are well stated, it is nothing else but a drawing up the armies in battalia with great skill and discipline; the next thing they do is, they thrust their swords into one another's sides. 1651, Jeremy Taylor, “Sermon VI”, in The Sermons of the Right Rev. Jeremy Taylor, Philadelphia: H. Hooker, published 1845, pages 456–457
   Two rival armies all the plain o'erspread, / Each in battalia rang'd, and shining arms array'd 1695, William Congreve, “To the King on the taking of Namur”, in A Complete Edition of the British Poets, volume 7, London: John & Arthur Arch, published 1795, stanza IV, page 537
2. (obsolete, countable) An army in battle array; also, the main battalia or body of the army, as distinct from the vanguard and rear.
   Why, our battalia trebles that account c. 1592, William Shakespeare, Richard III, act 5, scene 3, line 11