non-combatant
Not a fighter
A non-combatant is a person not engaged in fighting during a war or armed conflict.
The term covers civilians, medical personnel, chaplains, and prisoners of war—those protected under international law from being targeted.
Military members in support roles may also be classified as non-combatants: The Geneva Conventions protect non-combatants from deliberate attack.
Legal national member
- inhabitantOne who resides somewhere
- residentOne who inhabits
- nonmilitaryNot of armed forces
- populationAll inhabitants combined
innocent · protected · unarmed · townsfolk · villager · urbanite · layperson · bystander
One who formally disagrees
- pacifistAnti-violence believer
- defermentAuthorized delay of obligation
- exemptionRelease from requirement
- nonviolencePrincipled rejection of force
principle · conscience · Quaker · Mennonite · antimilitarist · peaceful · refusal
One who gathers news
- correspondentJournalist covering distant events
- photographerCamera-wielding image maker
- cameramanPerson operating film equipment
- pressApply force downward
media · embedded · documentation · witness · observer · coverage · freelancer · bureau
citizen
Legal national member
- inhabitantOne who resides somewhere
- residentOne who inhabits
- nonmilitaryNot of armed forces
population · innocent · protected · unarmed · townsfolk · villager · urbanite · layperson · bystander · family
objector
One who formally disagrees
- pacifistAnti-violence believer
- defermentAuthorized delay of obligation
- exemptionRelease from requirement
nonviolence · principle · conscience · Quaker · Mennonite · antimilitarist · peaceful · refusal
reporter
One who gathers news
- correspondentJournalist covering distant events
- photographerCamera-wielding image maker
- cameramanPerson operating film equipment
press · media · embedded · documentation · witness · observer · coverage · freelancer · bureau
displaced
Shifted from proper location
stateless · camp · persecution · sanctuary · survivor · war-torn · dispossessed · exile · migrant · homeless
medic
Emergency care provider
corpsman · stretcher-bearer · ambulance · triage · wounded · paramedic · chaplain · orderly · neutrality
- conflict avoiderspeacemaker, mediator, avoider, harmonizer, smoothers
- peaceful statesceasefire, truce, armistice, at peace, neutral
non-combatantcombatant
One who fights
soldier · fighter · warrior · belligerent · military personnel