squad

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /skwɒd/, US /skwɑːd/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Middle French esquade, a variant of escadre (modern French escouade),^[2][3][4] from Spanish escuadra or Italian squadra (“battalion”), literally “square”,^[2][3][4] from Vulgar Latin *exquadrāre (“to square”),^[2][5] from Latin ex “out” and quadrāre “to make square”, from quadrus “a square”,^[2] from Proto-Indo-European *kwetwer- (“four”).^[2] Its aphetic form follows squadron.^[4][6] The name comes from the square formation in which troops were commonly arranged to repel cavalry.^[2][3][5] It is related to square.^[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

A small number of soldiers, a subdivision of a company formed for drill or some duty: 1649 in the OED, Barnhart and Merriam-Webster,^[7][3][5] the 1640s in Etymonline.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Infantry fought in squares before the widespread use of automatic weapons, though the squad as a unit was meant to improve discipline.^[2][3] The awkward squad, of raw recruits, is from 1796.^[7] A particular circle of people is from 1786,^[7] and any small party or group of persons by 1809.^[2][7] In sport, a group of players from whom a team is chosen, first American, it is by 1902,^[2][7] and in police work by 1905;^[2] the squad car is from 1938.^[3] The verb, “to arrange in squads”, is from about 1802.^[5] In Scots and northern dialect a squad was a gang or a quantity of anything.^[8]

Timeline

• 1649 – a small military unit.^[7][3]
• 1786 – a set of people.^[7]
• 1796 – awkward squad.^[7]
• 1809 – any small group.^[2][7]
• 1902 – a sports squad.^[2][7]
• 1905 – a police squad.^[2]
• 1938 – squad car.^[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The smallest tactical unit of soldiers.
2. A small group of people organized for a common task.
3. A small unit of police officers: the drugs squad.
4. A sports team, or the players from whom it is chosen.

Verb

1. To arrange in squads.

Word family

• squadder
• bomb squad
• firing squad
• flying squad
• squad car
• death squad
• goon squad
• hit squad

Related words

• squadron
• square
• quadrant
• quarter
• cadre

Usage notes

Two dialect words share the spelling: squad, soft slimy mud (1847), of unknown origin,^[6][7][8] and squad, a Cornish mining term for loose stones of ore (1674).^[7][8]

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b c 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)