Date: 1656 1. a state of actual armed hostilities regardless of a formal declaration of war, a legal state created and ended by official declaration regardless of actual armed hostilities and usually characterized by operation of the rules of war, the period of time during which a ~ is in effect
STATE OF WAR
Meaning of STATE OF WAR in English
Merriam Webster. Explanatory English dictionary Merriam Webster. Толковый словарь английского языка Мерриам-Уэбстер. 2012