different between troop vs legion

English

Etymology

Attested in English since 1545, from French troupe (back-formation of troupeau, diminutive of Medieval Latin troppus "flock") and Middle French trouppe (from Old French trope (“band, company, troop”)), both of Germanic origin from Frankish *thorp (“assembly, gathering”), from Proto-Germanic *þurp? (“village, land, estate”), from Proto-Indo-European *treb- (“dwelling, settlement”). Doublet of troupe, and possibly also of thorp and dorp.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /t?u?p/
• (US) IPA^(key): /t?up/
• Rhymes: -u?p
• Homophone: troupe

Noun

troop (plural troops)

1. (collective) A collection of people; a number; a multitude (in general).
2. (military) A small unit of cavalry or armour commanded by a captain, corresponding to a platoon or company of infantry.
3. A detachment of soldiers or police, especially horse artillery, armour, or state troopers.
4. (chiefly in the plural) A group of soldiers; military forces.
5. (nonstandard) A company of actors; a troupe.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of W. Coxe to this entry?)

6. (Scouting) A chapter of a national girl or boy scouts organization, consisting of one or more patrols of 6 to 8 youngsters each.
   • Lord Baden-Powell of Gilwell (1920) Aids To Scoutmastership?^[1], page 6: “It is the Patrol System that makes the Troop, and all Scouting for that matter, a real co-operative effort.”
7. (collective) A group of baboons.
8. A particular roll of the drum; a quick march.
9. (mycology) Mushrooms that are in a close group but not close enough to be called a cluster.

Derived terms

• troop carrier
• trooper
• troop horse
• troopship
• troop train

Translations

Verb

troop (third-person singular simple present troops, present participle trooping, simple past and past participle trooped)

1. To move in numbers; to come or gather in crowds or troops.
2. To march on; to go forward in haste.
3. To move or march as if in a crowd.

Derived terms

• troop the colour (British, military)

Translations

See also

• Appendix:English collective nouns

References

• “troop” in the Canadian Oxford Dictionary, Second Edition, Oxford University Press, 2004.
• Douglas Harper (2001–2021) , “troop”, in Online Etymology Dictionary

Anagrams

• Porto, Proto, porto, porto-, proot, proto, proto-, tropo, tropo-

Dutch

Pronunciation

Noun

troop f (plural tropen, diminutive troopje n)

1. (music, literature, linguistics) trope

English

Etymology

Attested (in Middle English, as legioun) around 1200, from Old French legion, from Latin legi?, legionem, from leg? (“to gather, collect”); akin to legend, lecture.

Generalized sense of “a large number” is due to (inaccurate) translations of allusive phrase in Mark 5:9.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?li?d??n/
• Rhymes: -i?d??n

Adjective

legion (not comparable)

1. Numerous; vast; very great in number

   Synonyms: multitudinous, numerous

Translations

Noun

legion (plural legions)

1. (military, Ancient Rome) The major unit or division of the Roman army, usually comprising 3000 to 6000 infantry soldiers and 100 to 200 cavalry troops.

   Meronyms: cohort, maniple, century

2. (military, obsolete) A combined arms major military unit featuring cavalry, infantry, and artillery.

   Coordinate terms: combat team, regimental combat team, brigade combat team

3. (military) A large military or semi-military unit trained for combat; any military force; an army, regiment; an armed, organized and assembled militia.
4. (often Legion or the Legion) A national organization or association of former servicemen, such as the American Legion.
5. A large number of people; a multitude.

   Synonyms: host, mass, multitude, sea, throng

6. (often plural) A great number.
7. (dated, taxonomy) A group of orders inferior to a class; in scientific classification, a term occasionally used to express an assemblage of objects intermediate between an order and a class.

Coordinate terms

• (military unit): fireteam, section, troop, squad, platoon, company, battalion, regiment, brigade, division, corps, wing, army, army group

Related terms

• legionary
• legionnaire

Derived terms

• superlegion
• sublegion
• infralegion

Translations

Verb

legion (third-person singular simple present legions, present participle legioning, simple past and past participle legioned)

1. (transitive) To form into legions.

Quotations

Further reading

• Roman legion on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• legion (taxonomy) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• legion (demons) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• legion in popular culture on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

References

Anagrams

• eloign, longie, ogle-in

Danish

Etymology

Ultimately from Latin l?gi?.

Noun

legion c (singular definite legionen, plural indefinite legioner)

1. legion

Declension

Esperanto

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /le??ion/
• Hyphenation: le?gi?on
• Rhymes: -ion

Noun

legion

1. accusative singular of legio

Middle French

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /le??jõ?/

Noun

legion f (plural legions)

1. (military) legion

Descendants

• French: légion

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

Ultimately from Latin l?gi?.

Noun

legion m (definite singular legionen, indefinite plural legioner, definite plural legionene)

1. legion

Further reading

• “legion” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

Ultimately from Latin l?gi?.

Noun

legion m (definite singular legionen, indefinite plural legionar, definite plural legionane)

1. legion

Further reading

• “legion” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Polish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?l???.j?n/

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

legion m inan

1. legion

Declension

Swedish

Etymology

Ultimately from Latin l?gi?.

Noun

legion c

1. legion

Declension

Anagrams

• logien