Etymologically
Log in

platoon

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 31 October 2026 at 08:44. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • UK: /pləˈtuːn/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French peloton (“little ball; group of people, platoon”),[2][3][4][5][6][7] or, according to the OED, its variant plauton, recorded in Cotgrave in 1611 and in Middle French as ploton in 1572.[8][9] Early English spellings include platton and plotton.[9][10] The French noun, a small ball in Middle French from 1417, a small detachment of soldiers from 1616 and a small group of people from 1666,[8] is a diminutive from Middle French pelote (“ball”) with the suffix -on,[8][2][3][11] which gives English -oon.[4][5][12] The French word was in turn borrowed as Italian plotone.[8] The Middle French noun, the source of pellet, is from Vulgar Latin *pilotta, a diminutive of Latin pila (“ball”).[3][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

A small body of foot soldiers detached from a larger one and acting as a unit, especially in firing volleys: about 1547, in a description of military organization by Edward Seymour, Lord Protector, printed in D. Lloyd's State-worthies (1670).[8][9][13] Etymonline dates the word to the 1630s and Barnhart to 1637.[3][4]

Semantic evolution

Ayto explains that the French notion of a "small ball" was extended to a little cluster of people or a group of soldiers.[6] The spelling platoon was established by the early 18th century, and a military dictionary of 1702 calls it a vulgar corruption of peloton;[9] Johnson (1755) copied that dictionary's definition, a small square body of musketeers drawn out to strengthen the angles of a hollow square.[14] From 1706, in Farquhar's Recruiting Officer, platoon also meant a volley of shots,[8] a sense still current in 19th-century Scots.[15] Weekley notes that by 1908 the word was obsolete in the British army, and was later revived.[16] The general sense of a company or group of people acting together is recorded from 1711.[8] In American football a platoon was a group of players sent into or taken out of the game together (1941),[8][4][3] and in baseball a group of players taking turns at one position; the verb in that sense is from 1963 in the OED and 1967 in Etymonline.[8][3] The French word came back into English through cycling, as peloton, the main pack of riders.[9]

Timeline

  • c. 1547 – a small body of soldiers acting as a unit, spelled platton.[8][9]
  • 1637 – first record according to Barnhart.[4]
  • 1706 – a volley of shots (obsolete after 1889).[8]
  • 1711 – a group of people acting together.[8]
  • 1780 – verb, to fire a volley (obsolete).[8]
  • 1875 – verb, to arrange people into platoons.[8][13]
  • 1941 – in American football, a unit of players.[8][4]
  • 1963 – verb, in baseball, to alternate with another player.[8]
  • 1967 – a group of road vehicles moving together.[8]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A military unit forming a subdivision of a company, usually made up of two or more squads or sections and commanded by a lieutenant.[13][7][8]
  2. A group of people acting together or sharing a common activity or characteristic: a platoon of reporters waited outside.[7][13][8]
  3. (American football) A group of players trained to act together in attack or defence and sent into or taken out of the game as a unit.[8][4]
  4. (baseball) Two or more players who take turns at the same fielding position.[8]
  5. (archaic) A small body of musketeers firing together, or drawn up to strengthen the angles of a hollow square.[13][14][8]
  6. (obsolete, 1706–1889) A volley of shots.[8][13]

Verb

  1. To arrange or divide into platoons.[13][8]
  2. (baseball) To alternate a player with another at the same position, or to alternate in this way: The coach platooned the two catchers all season.[13][8][3]
  • peloton
  • pellet

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  5. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
  7. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  9. ^ a b c d e f Wilton, Dave, Wordorigins.org, wordorigins.org, p. "peloton / platoon", 8 February 2022
  10. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  11. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  12. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  13. ^ a b c d e f g h Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  14. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  15. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
  16. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray