Militancy is the stance of being militant: a readiness to use strong action — strikes, hard protest, even violence — to push political or social change. The word names the heat, not the army. A union’s militancy is how far it will go: a one-day strike is one thing; occupying a factory is another. News writers also speak of the militancy of a movement when it has become more confrontational. It is not always guns. In labour talk it often means refusing to be polite or patient. Still, in politics and security news it frequently sits next to armed groups, so the violent reading is the one many learners meet first. It is a noun: the quality or the mood, not the person.