legion

Definition from Wiktionary, a free dictionary

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Contents 1 English 1.1 Etymology 1.2 Pronunciation 1.3 Adjective 1.4 Noun 1.4.1 Synonyms 1.4.2 Related terms 1.4.3 Translations 1.5 Quotations

[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

  And he answered, saying, My name is Legion: for we are many.

[edit] Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -iːdʒən

[edit] Adjective

legion (not comparable)

1. 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)

1. (historical) The major unit or division of the Roman army, usually comprising 3000 to 6000 infantry soldiers and 100 to 200 cavalry troops.
2. A large military or semimilitary unit trained for combat; any military force; an army, regiment; an armed, organized and assembled militia.
3. (often Legion or the Legion) A national organization or association of former servicemen, such as the American Legion, founded in 1919.
4. A large number of people; a multitude.
5. (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

6. (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

• legionary
• legionnaire

[edit] 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

  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?

• 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.