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Glite Dictionary
military pace

military pace

7.0
A soldier's single marching step, usually 30 or 36 inches
  • noun
  • /ˈmɪlɪˌtɛri peɪs/
  • Specialized
translation icon : paso militar
  • The soldiers marched in unison, each step measured at a precise military pace of 30 inches.

Examples

  • To improve their marching technique, the recruits practiced moving at a steady military pace of 36 inches.

  • He forced it down to his side again and into a marching swing as he concentrated on setting a brisk military pace.

    Fiction book (1995)

  • During training, the instructor emphasized the importance of maintaining a consistent military pace for efficiency.

Surface Forms

military pace singular
military paces plural

Morphology

military + pace

The meaning is directly derivable from combining 'military' (relating to soldiers or military style) with 'pace' (a step or the distance of one step); together they naturally denote the step used in military marching and its length. This compositional pattern is transparent and cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows both words would readily infer the intended unit/step meaning.

Etymology

Military pace comes from soldiers who used one regular marching step to measure distance. The word military shows it was used in the army and pace means that single step, so today it means 'a unit of length equal to a soldier's step'.