häˈstiləd.ē, -ətē, -i sometimes hȯˈ- noun
( -es )
Etymology: Middle French or Late Latin; Middle French hostilité, from Late Latin hostilitat-, hostilitas, from Latin hostilis + -itat-, -itas -ity
1.
a. : a hostile or antagonistic state
the civilized south and the barbarous north stood in perpetual hostility — Kemp Malone
b.
(1) : hostile action
the Spanish expedition encountered hostility … and was forced to flee — R.W.Murray
(2) hostilities plural : overt acts of warfare : war
the outbreak of hostilities
2. : antagonism, opposition, or resistance in thought or principle : animosity
there was tension, there was hostility and envy in the air — Theodor Reik
hostility to annexation has different grounds in different places — B.K.Sandwell
Synonyms: see enmity