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Glite Dictionary
Battle of Borodino

Battle of Borodino

9.4
A major 1812 battle near Borodino between Napoleon's army and Russian forces with heavy losses
  • noun
translation icon : Batalla de Borodinó
  • The Battle of Borodino marked a turning point in the war, demonstrating the resilience of the Russian forces against Napoleon's army.
  • the Battle of Borodino in 1812

Examples

  • Did you know that the Battle of Borodino took place in 1812?

  • The Battle of Borodino was one of the bloodiest battles in history.

  • Many historians regard the Battle of Borodino as one of the bloodiest single-day engagements of the 19th century.

  • The Battle of Borodino marked a turning point in Napoleon's campaign in Russia.

  • Tolstoy's 'War and Peace' vividly describes the horrors of the Battle of Borodino.

  • During the 1812 Battle of Borodino, thousands of soldiers lost their lives in one of the bloodiest confrontations of the Napoleonic Wars.

  • "War and Peace" vividly portrays the impact of the Battle of Borodino on Russian society during the 1812 invasion.

Surface Forms

Battle of Borodino singular

Morphology

battle + of + Borodino

The phrase is a straightforward composition: 'battle' (a large fight) + 'of' + a place name indicates a battle that took place at Borodino. This 'Battle of X' naming pattern is cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows the constituent words will readily infer it refers to a specific historical battle, even if they lack background details like the year or belligerents.

Etymology

Battle of Borodino comes from the small village of Borodino, where Napoleon's French army and Russian forces met in a single, very bloody day in 1812 and many soldiers were killed. That's why the name now refers to that specific, famous battle and is often used to describe a 'turning point' in the campaign.