legio

Forms

legiō f (genitive legiōnis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin legō (“to choose, gather”) + -iō, “a choosing, a levy”.^[2][1][3] Varro explains it in this way: the soldiers are “chosen” (⟨leguntur⟩) in the levy.^[4][3] An early inscription spells it ⟨lecio⟩.^[2]

Compare Oscan leginum (“legion”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Naevius on;^[5] Plautus has is nunc Amphitruō praefectust legiōnibus “Amphitryon is now in command of the legions”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Legiō was the largest unit of the Roman army, of about 4,200 to 6,000 foot soldiers with a body of cavalry, divided into ten cohorts.^[2][4] It also meant any large army, the army as a place of service, and figuratively a body of supporters or a great number (“an army of”).^[2]

In Medieval Latin it named an army section, sometimes of a thousand horsemen, and in Medieval and New Latin the kingdom of León in Spain.^[6][1] English took it about 1200 as legion, through Old French.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 235–200 BC – First found in Naevius.^[5]
• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it for an army.^[2][5]
• 116–27 BC – Varro derives it from legere “to choose”.^[4][3][5]
• c. 1200 – Borrowed into English as legion.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. A legion (the largest unit of the Roman army).^[2][4]
2. An army, a host.^[2]
3. The army, military service.^[2]
4. (figurative) A body of supporters; a great number.^[2]
5. (Medieval Latin) A division of an army, sometimes of a thousand horsemen.^[6]

Related words

• legō
• English legion

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com