battle

Etymology 1

From Middle English batel, batell, batelle, batayle, bataylle, borrowed from Old French bataille, from Late Latin battālia, variant of battuālia (“fighting and fencing exercises”) from Latin battuō (“to strike, hit, beat, fight”), from a Gaulish root from Proto-Indo-European *bʰedʰ- (“to stab, dig”), or possibly from a Proto-Indo-European *bʰew- (“to hit, strike, beat”). Doublet of battalia and battel. Displaced native Old English ġefeoht.

noun

1. A contest, a struggle.
   the battle of life
   [T]he whole intellectual battle that had at its centre the best poem of the best poet of that day, and had the English Revolution among issues of the strife, was quickening the energies within young Foe's [i.e., Daniel Defoe's] mind when his age was twenty. 1884, Henry Morley, “Introduction”, in Daniel Defoe, A Journal of the Plague Year:[…], London: George Routledge and Sons, Limd.; New York, N.Y.: E. P. Dutton and Co., →OCLC, page v
   In truth, Tottenham never really looked like taking all three points and this defeat means they face a battle to reach the knockout stages – with their next home game against PAOK Salonika on 30 November likely to prove decisive. 3 November 2011, Chris Bevan, “Rubin Kazan 1 – 0 Tottenham”, in BBC Sport, archived from the original on 2019-03-26
   Australian broadcaster Clive James has admitted that he is losing his long-fought battle with leukaemia. 21 June 2012, “Clive James: ‘I’ve Lost My Battle with Cancer’”, in ITV News, archived from the original on 2012-06-21
2. (military) A general action, fight, or encounter, in which all the divisions of an army are or may be engaged; a combat, an engagement.
3. (military, now rare) A division of an army; a battalion.
   No gentleman would appear in the field but on horſeback. To ſerve in any other manner he would have deemed derogatory to his rank. The cavalry, by way of distinction, was called The battle, and on it alone depended the fate of every action. The infantry, collected from the dregs and refuſe of the people, ill armed and worſe diſciplined; was of no account. 1769, William Robertson, “Section II. View of the Progress of Society in Europe, with Respect to the Command of the National Force Requisite in Foreign Operations.”, in The History of the Reign of the Emperor Charles V. With a View of the Progress of Society in Europe, from the Subversion of the Roman Empire, to the Beginning of the Sixteenth Century. In Three Volumes, volume I, London: Printed by W. and W. Strahan, for W[illiam] Strahan; T[homas] Cadell,[…]; and J. Balfour,[…], →OCLC, page 87
   Once I link up with Lord Bolton and the Freys, I will have more than twelve thousand men. I mean to divide them into three battles and start up the causeway a half-day apart. 2000 November, George R[aymond] R[ichard] Martin, A Storm of Swords (A Song of Ice and Fire; book 3), New York, N.Y.: Bantam Books; Bantam Spectra mass market edition, New York, N.Y.: Bantam Dell, March 2003, page 634
4. (military, obsolete) The main body of an army, as distinct from the vanguard and rear; the battalia.
   hovering aloofe in the fields he suffered Wyat his Van and main Battell (cutting off some of the Reare) to march undisturbed save with one shot, from Knights-Bridge to Charing Chrosse. 1655, Thomas Fuller, The church-history of Britain from the birth of Jesus Christ until the year M.DC.XLVIII, Book VIII, Century XVI, Section I, §36
   The artillery, under Waldmann, with whom Herter rode in company, was divided between the vanguard and the “battle,” or main body, which comprised the bulk of the army. 1868, John Foster Kirk, A History of Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, volume 3, page 395
5. (military, clipping of) battle buddy

verb

1. (intransitive) To join in battle; to contend in fight
   Scientists always battle over theories.
   She has been battling against cancer for years.
   Hard work is required from men and machines as I was to experience later when footplating Lambton No 5 on five bogies battling its way up Newtondale. 1979 August, Michael Harris, “A line for all reasons: the North Yorkshire Moors Railway”, in Railway World, page 415
2. (transitive) To fight or struggle; to enter into a battle with.
   She has been battling cancer for years.

Etymology 2

From Early Modern English batell, probably from Middle English *batel (“flourishing”), from Old English *batol (“improving, tending to be good”), from batian (“to get better, improve”) + -ol ( + -le).

adj

1. (UK dialectal, chiefly Scotland, Northern England, agriculture) Improving; nutritious; fattening.
   battle grass, battle pasture
2. (UK dialectal, chiefly Scotland, Northern England) Fertile; fruitful.
   battle soil, battle land

verb

1. To feed or nourish (someone or something).
2. To render (land, soil, etc.) fertile or fruitful.