Legions

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Gatherings of troops assembled for warfare, often large in scale ; Numerous groups of dedicated admirers or followers rallying for a common interest ; Extensive bodies of individuals or creatures united under a single cause or aim
2. Military units consisting of many soldiers organized for battle ; huge assemblies of devoted fans or supporters united by shared enthusiasm ; enormous crowds or quantities of people or objects gathered together
3. Groups of soldiers forming a powerful force for combat ; abundant clusters of followers bound by common interests ; vast collections or amounts of individuals or items considered as one

Etymology: The most surprising thing about "legions" is that its modern sense of a vast crowd comes from a demon. In the Gospel of Mark, a man possessed by unclean spirits is asked his name and replies, "My name is Legion, for we are many." That allusive phrase gave the word its generalized sense of "a large number," so a crowd of fans or an army of creatures is, in a sense, borrowed from a possessed man's answer. The underlying word is far older and more ordinary. Latin "legio" meant a unit of the Roman army, and it derives from "legere," "to gather, collect," which is also the source of "legend" and "lecture." Soldiers were the people gathered up, so the military sense comes first and the earliest English uses follow it. The word reached English around 1200 as "legioun," through Old French.

Synonyms: multitudes, throngs, hordes, masses, swarms

Antonyms: few, scarcity