Editing Militia (section)

==Etymology==
''Militia'' derives from [[Latin language|Latin]] roots:
* ''miles'' /miːles/ : soldier<ref name="Charlton T. Lewis 1997">Charlton T. Lewis, ''An Elementary Latin Dictionary'', p. 505, Oxford U. Pr., 1997.</ref>
* ''-itia'' /iːtia/ : a state, activity, quality or condition of being<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.class.uidaho.edu/luschnig/Latin%20Vocab/4.htm |title= 4 Noun Formation|website=www.class.uidaho.edu |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120306002835/http://www.class.uidaho.edu/luschnig/Latin%20Vocab/4.htm |archive-date=March 6, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/classics/jvsickle/wrlith.htm |title=Roots of Style: Radicals of Latin (& Greek) in English (JVS) |publisher=Academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu |access-date=2014-02-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130327055950/http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/classics/jvsickle/wrlith.htm |archive-date=2013-03-27 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* ''militia'' /mil:iːtia/: Military service<ref name="Charlton T. Lewis 1997"/>

The word ''militia'' dates back to ancient Rome, and more recently to at least 1590 when it was recorded in a book by Sir John Smythe, ''Certain Discourses Military'' with the meanings: a military force; a body of soldiers and military affairs; a body of military discipline<ref>''Oxford English Dictionary'', March 2002. Oxford University Press.</ref>
The word Militia comes from ancient Latin, in which it meant defense service, as distinguished from a body of (armed) defenders which would be ''volgus militum''. The term is used by several countries with the meaning of "defense activity" indicating it is taken directly from Latin.