national service
6
4.1
- noun
:
servicio nacional
- A program of national service—voluntary or even compulsory—would do both of those things and perhaps more.
- national service program
It wouldn't be a bad thing if people had to do a year's national service.
- It wouldn't be a bad thing if people had to do a year's national service.
- That was really good because I came out at the time when national service had finished.
- And yeah, they moved back, but my father was went back to Sardinia and he went to the national service.
Examples
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Others, particularly in the military itself, are concerned that private firms are recruiting Chile's military elite away from national service.
Academic text (2006) -
There is an exception granted for those away from Chicago due to national service.
Blog text (24) -
That was really good because I came out at the time when national service had finished.
-
In the new society, military service would be displaced by civil service or national service.
Academic text (1996) -
Is it feasible to replace military service with national service?
Academic text (1996) -
It's not a private company or even a nonprofit; it's a government-run national service program.
Blog text (13) -
Commandos, citizens who had completed their initial period of national service, were called up annually for a short period of active service.
Academic text (1995) -
Throughout 1992, the number of conscripts undergoing national service should be cut in half.
Academic text (1995) -
The government has also been criticized for using its compulsory "national service" system to force thousands of young Eritreans into labor.
Blog text (26) -
Many countries require national service for young citizens to participate in military training.
Synonyms
7
8.2
A system that by law makes people serve in the military
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly compositional: 'national' = relating to the country and 'service' = service (here specifically military), so together they denote service for the nation—typically military service. This construction and sense exist in many languages, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents will generally infer the intended meaning (only the precise compulsory vs. voluntary nuance may need contextual confirmation).
Etymology
National service comes from the idea of national, meaning the country, and service, meaning work for the country. Young people were asked to live and train with the army for a set time, so today the phrase means 'compulsory military service'.