Battleground

How to spell battleground

12 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce battleground

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does battleground mean?

1. nounA place where a battle is or was fought.
2. nounA subject, area, or place over which there is intense dispute or competition.

Battleground in a sentence

• The museum stands on a former battleground from the civil war.

• The budget meeting turned into a battleground between the two departments.

• Historians walked the battleground to map where each regiment had stood.

• That swing state is the key battleground in this year's election.

Where does battleground come from?

Language of origin: French

This is a compound built from two words that entered English by very different routes. The first half, battle, came from the Old French bataille, which traces back to the Late Latin battualia, meaning 'fencing or sword exercises', and ultimately to battuere, 'to beat or strike'. The second half, ground, is a native English word from the Old English grund, meaning 'bottom, foundation, or surface of the earth', and it has solid Germanic roots shared with the German Grund. The two were joined in English to name the patch of land where a battle is fought, with the combined form well established by the 1600s. Because both parts are familiar everyday words, the only real spelling point to remember is the double t in battle, inherited from that Latin battuere meaning to strike.

How the word is built

• battle (combat, from Old French bataille)
• ground (piece of land, from Old English grund)