legion
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Contents |
[edit] English
[edit] Etymology
C. 1205 Old English legioun, from Old French legion, from Latin legiō, legionem, from legere (“to gather, collect”); akin to legend, lecture.
- Generalized sense of “a large number” is due to (inaccurate) translations of allusive phrase in Mark 5:9
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- And he answered, saying, My name is Legion: for we are many.
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[edit] Pronunciation
- Rhymes: -iːdʒən
[edit] Adjective
legion (not comparable)
- Numerous; vast; very great in number; multitudinous.
- Russia's labor and capital resources are woefully inadequate to overcome the state's needs and vulnerabilities, which are legion.
[edit] Noun
legion (plural legions)
- (historical) The major unit or division of the Roman army, usually comprising 3000 to 6000 infantry soldiers and 100 to 200 cavalry troops.
- A large military or semimilitary unit trained for combat; any military force; an army, regiment; an armed, organized and assembled militia.
- (often Legion or the Legion) A national organization or association of former servicemen, such as the American Legion, founded in 1919.
- A large number of people; a multitude.
- (often plural) A great number.
- Where one sin has entered, legions will force their way through the same breach. — John Rogers (1679-1729) Google Books
- (dated, taxonomy) A group of orders inferior to a class; in scientific classification, a term occasionally used to express an assemblage of objects intermediate between an order and a class.
[edit] Synonyms
(large number of people): host, mass, multitude, sea, throng
[edit] Related terms
[edit] Translations
Translations
[edit] Quotations
- 1606, William Shakespeare, Macbeth, Act IV Scene iii
- MACDUFF. Not in the legions / Of horrid hell, can come a devil more damn'd / In evils to top Macbeth.
- 1611, Bible, King James Version
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- Mark 5:9
- And he asked him, What is thy name? And he answered, saying, My name is Legion: for we are many.
- Matthew 26:53
- Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?
- Mark 5:9
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- 1708, John Philips, Cyder, Book II, Google Books
- Now we exult, by mighty ANNA's Care / Secure at home, while She to foreign Realms / Sends forth her dreadful Legions, and restrains / The Rage of Kings
- 1745, Edward Young, Night Thoughts, Google Books
- What can preserve my life, or what destroy ? / An angel's arm can't snatch me from the grave; / Legions of angels can't confine me there.
- 1821, Lord Byron, Sardanapalus, Act IV Scene i, Google Books
- SAR. I fear it not; but I have felt—have seen— / A legion of the dead.
[edit] Anagrams
[edit] Esperanto
[edit] Noun
legion
- accusative singular of legio
