Origin and history of war-path

Old English paþ, pæþ "narrow passageway or route across land, a track worn by the feet of people or animals treading it," from West Germanic *patha- (source also of Old Frisian path, Middle Dutch pat, Dutch pad, Old High German pfad, German Pfad "path"), a word of uncertain origin, not attested in Old Norse or Gothic.

The original initial -p- in a Germanic word is an etymological puzzle. Don Ringe ("From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic," Oxford 2006), reflecting an old theory, describes it as "An obvious loan from Iranian ..., clearly borrowed after Grimm's Law had run its course." Watkins says the word is "probably borrowed (? via Scythian) from Iranian *path-," from PIE root *pent- "to tread, go, pass" (source of Avestan patha "way;" see find (v.)), but this is too much of a stretch for OED and others. In Scotland and Northern England, commonly a steep ascent of a hill or in a road.

"contest between nations, peoples, or parties, carried on by force of arms," late Old English wyrre, werre "large-scale military conflict," from Old North French werre "war" (Old French guerre "difficulty, dispute; hostility; fight, combat, war;" Modern French guerre), from Frankish *werra, from Proto-Germanic *werz-a- (source also of Old Saxon werran, Old High German werran, German verwirren "to confuse, perplex"). This is said in Watkins to be from PIE *wers- (1) "to confuse, mix up," suggesting the original sense was "bring into confusion."

Also from c. 1200 in reference to particular wars. By late 12c. as "state of active opposition or hostility" in a community or between persons. By mid-14c. as "fighting as an activity or profession" (as in man-of-war). Expression in war and peace "at all times" is attested from late 14c.

Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian guerra also are from Germanic; Romanic peoples turned to Germanic for a "war" word possibly to avoid Latin bellum (see bellicose) because its form tended to merge with bello- "beautiful."

There seems to have been no common Germanic word for "war" at the dawn of historical times. Old English had many poetic words for "war" (wig, guð, heaðo, hild, all common in personal names), but the usual one to translate Latin bellum was gewin "struggle, strife" (related to win (v.)).

The phrase war is hell is attested by 1850 but commonly attributed to U.S. Civil War Gen. William T. Sherman (1820-1891). It is noted as his by 1882 in newspaper columns. Later accounts place it in an address before the graduating class of Michigan Military Academy on June 19, 1879. One 1861 citation (in a Boston peace publication writing on the American crisis) credits it to Napoleon.

To make war is attested by c. 1200, earlier have war. To be at war is late 14c.; to go to war is mid-15c.

War crime is attested from 1906 (in Oppenheim's "International Law"). War games translates German Kriegspiel (see kriegspiel). War-weary "fatigued by war or fighting" is by 1895 (Shakespeare has war-wearied); war zone is by 1914; war-bride by 1918. War chest is attested from 1901; now usually figurative but the literal sense would be "strong-box for funds used in waging war." 

The causes of war are always falsely represented ; its honour is dishonest and its glory meretricious, but the challenge to spiritual endurance, the intense sharpening of all the senses, the vitalising consciousness of common peril for a common end, remain to allure those boys and girls who have just reached the age when love and friendship and adventure call more persistently than at any later time. The glamour may be the mere delirium of fever, which as soon as war is over dies out and shows itself for the will-o'-the-wisp that it is, but while it lasts no emotion known to man seems as yet to have quite the compelling power of this enlarged vitality. [Vera Brittain, "Testament of Youth"]

The world will never have lasting peace so long as men reserve for war the finest human qualities. [John Foster Dulles, Speech on the Marshall Plan, 1948]