peacekeeping
/ˈpiːskiːpɪŋ/
peacekeeping means the act of preserving peace, specifically between hostile groups or states, especially by a sanctioned military force. It carries an Arena rating of 1409, earned across 9 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, peacekeeping ranks #1,798 of 17,127 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #5,176 of 17,134 for Most Malleable Words, #7,487 of 17,142 for Most Ingenious Words, #7,626 of 17,126 for Most Satisfying to Say.
peacekeeping is pronounced /ˈpiːskiːpɪŋ/.
Why “peacekeeping” is a great word
The maintenance of an existing truce between hostile groups or states, especially by an internationally sanctioned military or police force. From *peace* (state of tranquility, absence of war) + *keeping* (act of maintaining), after the phrase 'keep the peace'; first attested as a noun in 1664. Unlike *peacemaking*, which strives to forge an agreement, or *peace enforcement*, which imposes order by coercive might, peacekeeping is the vigilant stewardship of a fragile calm. It is the blue helmet in a dusty square, the white vehicle on a road between mined fields, and the interposition of a weary observer with a notebook between two lines of soldiers who still hate each other—a solemn, temporary dam built against the returning tide of war.
Etymology
From peace + keeping, after keep the peace.
noun
- The act of preserving peace, specifically between hostile groups or states, especially by a sanctioned military force.e.g.“Peacekeeping is one of the things that the United Nations, for all its foibles, does well.” — 2011, Steven Pinker, The Better Angels of Our Nature, Penguin, published 2012, page 378:
- (for example) a peacekeeping force.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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