Feindseligkeiten

Feindseligkeiten is a German noun in the plural that denotes hostility or acts of hostility between parties. The term can refer to negative attitudes as well as overt aggressive actions, including armed clashes during a dispute. The singular form is Feindseligkeit, while Feindseligkeiten emphasizes multiple incidents or a period of antagonism.

The word is commonly used in political, military, historical, and diplomatic contexts. It describes situations in which two or more sides oppose each other, ranging from personal enmity to state-to-state conflict. In international relations, phrases such as feindseligkeiten erklären (to declare hostilities) or die Feindseligkeiten zwischen zwei Staaten (the hostilities between two states) illustrate its formal usage. In such contexts the term can indicate the onset, continuation, or characterization of armed conflict or severe antagonism. In everyday language, Feindseligkeiten may also refer to personal hostility or a breakdown in relations between individuals or groups, though more everyday terms such as Konflikt or Feindlichkeit are also common.

Etymology traces Feindseligkeit to Feind (enemy) plus the nominalizing suffix -lichkeit, forming a general concept of a state or quality of being hostile. Related terms include Feind, Feindselig, Feindschaft, Kampfhandlungen, Kriegsführung, Konflikt and Spannungen. The word carries a formal or historical tone and is often found in official reports, historical accounts, and analytical writing about conflict and diplomacy.