Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare in which small groups of combatants, such as paramilitary personnel, armed civilians, or irregulars, use military tactics including ambushes, sabotage, raids, petty warfare, hit-and-run tactics, and mobility, to fight a larger and less-mobile traditional military.

What does the word guerilla literally mean?

guerrilla (n.)

"fighter in an irregular, independent armed force," 1809, from Spanish guerrilla "body of skirmishers, skirmishing warfare," literally "little war," diminutive of guerra "war," from a Germanic source cognate with Old High German werra "strife, conflict, war," from Proto-Germanic *werra- (see war (n.)).

What does guerrilla mean in history?

guerrilla, also spelled guerilla, member of an irregular military force fighting small-scale, limited actions, in concert with an overall political-military strategy, against conventional military forces.