Hors de combat: Difference between revisions

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Hors de Combat, literally meaning "out of the fight," is a French term used in diplomacy and international law to refer to soldiers who are incapable of performing their military function. Examples include a downed fighter pilot, as well as the sick, wounded, detained, or otherwise disabled. Soldiers hors de combat are normally granted special protections according to the laws of war, sometimes including prisoner of war status.

Baroness Orczy wrote in her famous novel The Scarlet Pimpernel of Chauvelin saying, "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."

Kurt Vonnegut described himself as hors de combat on the title page of his famous anti-war novel, Slaughterhouse Five: "...who, as an American Infantry Scout hors de combat, as a prisoner of war, witnessed the fire bombing of Dresden ..."

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+'''''Hors de Combat''''', literally meaning "out of the fight," is a French term used in [[diplomacy]] and [[international law]] to refer to [[soldier]]s who are incapable of performing their military function. Examples include a downed [[fighter aircraft|fighter]] [[Aviator|pilot]], as well as the sick, wounded, detained, or otherwise disabled. Soldiers ''hors de combat'' are normally granted special protections according to the [[laws of war]], sometimes including [[prisoner of war]] status.
+[[Baroness Orczy]] wrote in her famous novel ''The Scarlet Pimpernel'' of Chauvelin saying,
-hors de combat
+"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."
-One entry found.
+[[Kurt Vonnegut]] described himself as ''hors de combat'' on the title page of his famous anti-war novel, ''[[Slaughterhouse Five]]'':
-Main Entry:
+"...who, as an American Infantry Scout hors de combat, as a prisoner of war, witnessed the fire bombing of [[Dresden]] ..."
-    hors de com·bat Listen to the pronunciation of hors de combat
-Pronunciation:
-    \ˌȯr-də-kōⁿ-ˈbä\
-Function:
-    adverb or adjective
-Etymology:
-    French
-Date:
+==See also==
-: out of combat : disabled
+* [[Combatant]]
-Learn more about "hors de combat" and related topics at Britannica.com
+* [[Non-combatant]]
-See a map of "hors de combat" in the Visual Thesaurus
+* [[Unlawful combatant]]
-Pronunciation Symbols
+{{mil-stub}}
+[[Category:Laws of war]]
-Share this entry:    Share this word with digg Share this word with reddit Share this word with technorati Share this word with del.icio.us Share this word with furl Share this word with stumbleupon Share this word with google Share this word with blinklist Share this word with newsvine Share this word with facebook Share this word with myspace
+[[de:Hors de combat]]
-Link to this page:
+[[ms:Hors de combat]]
+[[pl:Hors de combat]]
-Cite this page:
-MLA Style
-"hors de combat." Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. 2009.
-Merriam-Webster Online. 24 February 2009