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legion

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈliː.d͡ʒən/ (UK); /ˈli.d͡ʒən/ (US)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English legiun, borrowed from Old French legion,[2][3][4] from Latin legiō (“a body of soldiers, a levy”),[2][3] from legō (“to choose, gather, levy”) (see legend),[2][3][5] from Proto-Indo-European *leǵ- (“to collect, gather”).[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A Roman legion: probably before 1200, in Layamon's Brut, in Barnhart, about 1200 in Etymonline, about 1205 in the OED.[2][3][6]

Semantic evolution

A Roman legion had about 3,000 to 6,000 men.[3][5] A vast host or multitude is from before 1300, often of angels or spirits,[6] and especially from Mark 5:9, my name is Legion: for we are many (about 1378 in Barnhart).[2][6][3] Modern military bodies are called legions from the 1590s, as the Foreign Legion,[3][6] and the Legion of Honour, founded by Napoleon in 1802, is named in English from 1827.[3][6] The American Legion of ex-servicemen was founded in 1919.[3][6] The adjective, numerous, as in their numbers are legion, is from 1678.[7][8]

Timeline

  • c. 1205 – a Roman legion.[6]
  • before 1300 – a multitude.[6]
  • 1598 – a modern military body.[6]
  • 1678 – legion (adjective).[7]
  • 1919 – the American Legion.[6]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A unit of the ancient Roman army of 3,000 to 6,000 infantry, with cavalry.
  2. A large military force: the French Foreign Legion.
  3. A very large number; a multitude.
  4. An association of former servicemen.

Adjective

  1. Very numerous: their supporters are legion.

Word family

  • legionella
  • foreign legion

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  8. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press