ABSTRACT
The etymological roots of the word “war” – said to have evolved from the late Old English (c.1050) words wyrre and were; from the Frankish word *werra; from the Proto-Germanic word, *werso (cf. O.S. werran, O.H.G. werran, Ger. Verwirren) – convey a sense of confusion, strife, discord, struggle, and violence. It is important to recognize this because, when considered in its modern sense, the word “war” appears to perform both a descriptive function and a conceptual one. Thus, the question arises: How, when, and for what reasons did a phenomenon – marked by violence, strife, discord, belligerence, and defiance – become a concept?
