tactic

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
tactic/ˈtaktɪk/

▶noun

• 1 an action or strategy carefully planned to achieve a specific end.

• 2 (tactics) the art of disposing armed forces in order of battle and of organizing operations, especially during contact with an enemy. Often contrasted with strategy.

– derivatives
tactician noun.

– origin C18: from mod. L. tactica, from Gk taktikē (tekhnē) ‘(art) of tactics’, fem. of taktikos, from taktos ‘ordered, arranged’.