Legion

Adjective

 * 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.

Noun

 * 1)  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
 * 1)  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.

Synonyms
host, mass, multitude, sea, throng

Related terms

 * legionary
 * legionnaire

Adjectives for Legion
gallant; ragged; puissant; well-disciplined; iron-breasted; scouring; locust; swarthy; victorious; invincible.

Verbs for Legion
array in—; assemble—; decimate—; direct —; fill with—s; follow—; gather—; overthrow—; secure—; sustain—; unite in—; —congregates; —defends; —drifts; —engages; —flocks; —participates; —serves; — strives.

Thesaurus
KP, a mass of, a world of, armed force, armed service, army, army group, array, battalion, battery, battle group, bevy, brigade, bunch, cadre, career soldiers, cloud, cluster, clutter, cohort, cohue, column, combat command, combat team, company, corps, covey, crowd, crush, deluge, detachment, detail, division, field army, field train, fighting machine, file, flight, flock, flocks, flood, flying column, forces, galaxy, garrison, ground forces, ground troops, hail, heap, hive, horde, host, jam, kitchen police, large amount, legions, lots, maniple, many, mass, masses of, military establishment, mob, muchness, multitude, nest, numbers, occupation force, organization, outfit, pack, panoply, paratroops, phalanx, platoon, plurality, posse, press, quantities, quite a few, rabble, rank, rank and file, ranks, regiment, regular army, regulars, rout, ruck, scores, section, shoal, ski troops, soldiery, spate, squad, squadron, standing army, storm troops, swarm, tactical unit, task force, the line, the military, throng, tidy sum, train, troop, troops, unit, wing, worlds of

Etymology
C. 1205 legioun, from  legion, from  legio:, legionem:, from legere:; 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.

Translations

 * Ancient Greek: λεγεών
 * Aramaic:
 * Syriac: ܠܓܝܘܢܐ (legyūnā’, legyūno’)
 * Hebrew: לגיונא (legyūnā’, legyūno’)
 * Catalan:
 * Croatian:


 * Czech:
 * Dutch:
 * Italian: legione
 * Romanian:
 * Spanish:

Quotations

 * 1606, William Shakespeare, Macbeth, Act IV Scene iii
 * M ACDUFF . 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
 * S AR . I fear it not; but I have felt—have seen— / A legion of the dead.

Anagrams

 * eloign

Noun
legion