Legion

• POS: Adjective, Noun
• HYPHEN: le=gion

CIDE DICTIONARY

Legion, n. [OE. legioun, OF. legion, F. légion, fr. L. legio, fr. legere to gather, collect. See Legend.].

•  A body of foot soldiers and cavalry consisting of different numbers at different periods, -- from about four thousand to about six thousand men, -- the cavalry being about one tenth.  [1913 Webster]
•  A military force; an army; military bands.  [1913 Webster]
•  A great number; a multitude.  [1913 Webster]

  "Where one sin has entered, legions will force their way through the same breach."  [1913 Webster]
•  A group of orders inferior to a class.  [1913 Webster]

Legion of honor, an order instituted by the French government in 1802, when Bonaparte was First Consul, as a reward for merit, both civil and military.

OXFORD DICTIONARY

Legion, n. & adj.
--n.
1 a division of 3,000-6,000 men, including a complement of cavalry, in the ancient Roman army.
2 a large organized body.
3 a vast host, multitude, or number.
--predic.adj. great in number (his good works have been legion).

Idiom

American Legion (in the US) an association of ex-servicemen formed in 1919. foreign legion a body of foreign volunteers in a modern, esp. French, army. Legion of Honour a French order of distinction founded in 1802. Royal British Legion (in the UK) an association of ex-servicemen (and now women) formed in 1921.

Etymology

ME f. OF f. L legio -onis f. legere choose

THESAURUS

Legion

KP, a mass of, a world of, armed force, armed service, army, army group, array, battalion, battery, battle group, bevy, brigade, bunch, cadre, career soldiers, cloud, cluster, clutter, cohort, cohue, column, combat command, combat team, company, corps, covey, crowd, crush, deluge, detachment, detail, division, field army, field train, fighting machine, file, flight, flock, flocks, flood, flying column, forces, galaxy, garrison, ground forces, ground troops, hail, heap, hive, horde, host, jam, kitchen police, large amount, legions, lots, maniple, many, mass, masses of, military establishment, mob, muchness, multitude, nest, numbers, occupation force, organization, outfit, pack, panoply, paratroops, phalanx, platoon, plurality, posse, press, quantities, quite a few, rabble, rank, rank and file, ranks, regiment, regular army, regulars, rout, ruck, scores, section, shoal, ski troops, soldiery, spate, squad, squadron, standing army, storm troops, swarm, tactical unit, task force, the line, the military, throng, tidy sum, train, troop, troops, unit, wing, worlds of

ROGET THESAURUS

Legion

Combatant

N combatant, disputant, controversialist, polemic, litigant, belligerent, competitor, rival, corrival, fighter, assailant, champion, Paladin, mosstrooper, swashbuckler fire eater, duelist, bully, bludgeon man, rough, prize fighter, pugilist, boxer, bruiser, the fancy, gladiator, athlete, wrestler, fighting-cock, game-cock, warrior, soldier, fighting man, Amazon, man at arms, armigerent, campaigner, veteran, swordsman, sabreur, redcoat, military man, Rajput, armed force, troops, soldiery, military forces, sabaoth, the army, standing army, regulars, the line, troops of the line, militia, yeomanry, volunteers, trainband, fencible, auxiliary, bersagliere, brave, garde-nationale, garde-royale, minuteman, auxiliary forces, reserve forces, reserves, posse comitatus, national guard, gendarme, beefeater, guards, guardsman, yeomen of the guard, life guards, household troops, janissary, myrmidon, Mama, Mameluke, spahee, spahi, Cossack, Croat, Pandoz, irregular, guerilla, partisan, condottiere, franctireur, tirailleur, bashi-bazouk, vietminh, vietcong, shining path, contras, huk, hukbalahap, mercenary, soldier of fortune, hired gun, gunfighter, gunslinger, bushwhacker, free lance, companion, Hessian, hit man torpedo, soldier, levy, draught, Landwehr, Landsturm, conscript, recruit, cadet, raw levies, infantry, infantryman, private, private soldier, foot soldier, Tommy Atkins, rank and file, peon, trooper, sepoy, legionnaire, legionary, cannon fodder, food for powder, officer, subaltern, ensign, standard bearer, spearman, pikeman, spear bearer, halberdier, lancer, musketeer, carabineer, rifleman, jager, sharpshooter, yager, skirmisher, grenadier, fusileer, archer, bowman, horse and foot, horse soldier, cavalry, horse, artillery, horse artillery, light horse, voltigeur, uhlan, mounted rifles, dragoon, hussar, light dragoon, heavy dragoon, heavy, cuirassier, Foot Guards, Horse Guards, gunner, cannoneer, bombardier, artilleryman, matross, sapper, sapper and miner, engineer, light infantry, rifles, chasseur, zouave, military train, coolie, army, corps d'armee, host, division, battalia, column, wing, detachment, garrison, flying column, brigade, regiment, corps, battalion, sotnia, squadron, company, platoon, battery, subdivision, section, squad, piquet, picket, guard, rank, file, legion, phalanx, cohort, cloud of skirmishers, war horse, charger, destrier, marine, man-of-war's man, navy, wooden walls, naval forces, fleet, flotilla, armada, squadron, man-of-war, destroyer, submarine, minesweeper, torpedo-boat, torpedo-destroyer, patrol torpedo boat, PT boat, torpedo- catcher, war castle, H, M, S, battleship, battle wagon, dreadnought, line of battle ship, ship of the line, aircraft carrier, carrier, flattop, helicopter carrier, missile platform, missile boat, ironclad, turret ship, ram, monitor, floating battery, first- rate, frigate, sloop of war, corvette, gunboat, bomb vessel, flagship, guard ship, cruiser, armored cruiser, protected cruiser, privateer, tender, store ship, troop ship, transport, catamaran, merchant marine.

Multitude

N multitude, numerous, numerosity, numerality, multiplicity, profusion, legion, host, great number, large number, round number, enormous number, a quantity, numbers, array, sight, army, sea, galaxy, scores, peck, bushel, shoal, swarm, draught, bevy, cloud, flock, herd, drove, flight, covey, hive, brood, litter, farrow, fry, nest, crowd, lots, all in the world and his wife, greater number, majority, multiplication, multiple, many, several, sundry, divers, various, not a few, Briarean, a hundred, a thousand, a myriad, a million, a quadrillion, a nonillion, a thousand and one, some ten or a dozen, some forty or fifty, half a dozen, half a hundred, very many, full many, ever so many, numerous, numerose, profuse, in profusion, manifold, multiplied, multitudinous, multiple, multinominal, teeming, populous, peopled, crowded, thick, studded, galore, thick coming, many more, more than one can tell, a world of, no end of, no end to, cum multis aliis, thick as hops, thick as hail, plenty as blackberries, numerous as the stars in the firmament, numerous as the sands on the seashore, numerous as the hairs on the head, and what not, and heaven knows what, endless, their name is 'legion', acervatim, en foule, many- headed multitude, numerous as glittering gems of morning dew, vel prece vel pretio.