hors de combat

English

Etymology

Borrowed from French hors de combat (literally “out of combat”), which is obsolete in contemporary French.

Adjective

hors de combat (not comparable)

1. (international law, literary) Out of action; disabled; no longer able to fight.
   • 1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “An Act of Parliament”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 191:

     We have no influence but by our influence over those called our masters; how do we acquire that influence? By flattering a man's vanity, and by playing on his hopes and fears! These are all put hors de combat in marriage.

   • 1905 January 12, Baroness Orczy [i.e., Emma Orczy], The Scarlet Pimpernel, popular edition, London: Greening & Co., published 20 March 1912, →OCLC, page 256:

     When we find them, there will be a band of desperate men at the bay. Some of our men, I presume, will be put hors de combat. These royalists are good swordsmen, and the Englishman is devilish cunning, and looks very powerful.

   • 1920 April, F[rancis] Scott Fitzgerald, This Side of Paradise, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, →OCLC, book I (The Romantic Egotist), page 72:

     On her right Froggy was hors de combat already, although he hadn't quite realized it.

   • 1940 November, “Notes and News: Railway Operation Ad Lib”, in Railway Magazine, page 612:

     Non-operating revenue for the day included the collection of $50 for the repair of engine No. 9, which at the time—early August—was hors de combat.

   • 1969 March 31, Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., Slaughterhouse-Five […] (A Seymour Lawrence Book), New York, N.Y.: Delacorte Press, →OCLC:

     […] who, as an American infantry scout hors de combat, as a prisoner of war, witnessed the fire bombing of Dresden, Germany […]

   • 2022 November 20, Malachy Browne, Stephen Hiltner, Chevaz Clarke-Williams, Taylor Turner, quoting Dr. Rohini Haar, “Videos Suggest Captive Russian Soldiers Were Killed at Close Range”, in The New York Times‎^[1], →ISSN:

     Dr. Haar noted that when they surrendered, the Russian soldiers had been lying down, apparently unarmed, with their arms outstretched or behind their heads. “They’re considered hors de combat, or noncombatants — effectively prisoners of war,” Dr. Haar said.

French

Etymology

Literally, “out of combat”.

Pronunciation

• ^{(aspirated h)} IPA^(key): /ɔʁ də kɔ̃.ba/

Adjective

hors de combat (invariable)

1. (international law) hors de combat

Further reading

• hors de combat on the French Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^fr