Aggressive or hostile behavior, especially the state of being engaged in war or conflict.
From Latin 'bellum' (war) and 'gerere' (to carry on), literally meaning 'to wage war'. The term entered English in the 18th century to describe the attitude or condition of warring nations.
The root 'bellum' also gives us 'rebellion' and 'antebellum'—basically, you can track conflicts throughout history by finding this one Latin word scattered across our vocabulary.
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