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marshal ~ martial

[‘martial’ rhymes with ‘marshal’]

“Marshal” (noun) is ‘an officer of the highest rank in the army or air force of some countries; an officer in charge of a State ceremony; {in American English} a police officer who should see that people do what a court of law orders them to do (e.g. criminals on parole, a short period of leave from prison, must present themselves before a police officer in a police station), a fire department officer; {in India} the officer in charge of discipline in the State Assembly or Parliament when it is in session’,

e.g.

A marshal is assigned to observe the attitude of the criminal who is given a parole for a month.

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“Martial” (adjective) means ‘of or associated war, soldiers, systematic fighting techniques’;

[‘Martial law’ is ‘when the government of a country is controlled by the military, suspending the ordinary democratic law (government elected by all the people)’.]

e.g.

Several small countries in Africa and South America are often under martial law.

My younger brother is taking a course in martial arts.  [i.e.  a course in how to fight; there are several styles of martial arts: karate, judo, kung fu, etc.]

[‘Marital’ (adjective) means ‘relating to marriage’, e.g. ‘marital problems’ = the problems a husband and a wife have in their married life; ‘marital breakdown’ = married people getting separated; ‘marital violence’ = the husbands or wives beating or harassing their spouses; ‘marital bliss’ = the happiness a person has in their married life.  The confusion could be due to the spelling; the pronunciation, of course, is very different.  “martial” = relating to the art of fighting;  “marital” = relating to marriage.]

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