-rənsē, -si noun
( -es )
1. : the state of being at war or in conflict ; specifically : the status whereby a recognized military force is granted the protection of the international laws and usages of war (as those laid down by the Hague Convention in 1899)
2. : belligerence
over against this persistent belligerency of the German militarists stood the ideology of British pacifism — Hibbert Journal