legion

CEFRC1

/ˈliː.d͡ʒən/

noun · adjective

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    A very large number of people or things.

  2. 02

    noun

    A large unit of soldiers in ancient Rome.

Examples

  • My name is Legion; for we are many.

  • Tom doesn't know the difference between a phalanx and a legion.

At a glance

Sits at C1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
2
Citations
5
Synonyms
5

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. A combined arms major military unit featuring cavalry, infantry, and artillery, including historical units such as the British Legion, and present-day units such as the Spanish Legion and the French Foreign Legion.

  2. The major unit or division of the Roman army, usually comprising 3000 to 6000 infantry soldiers and 100 to 200 cavalry troops.

adjective

Extra meaning

  1. Numerous; vast; very great in number.

More examples

In context

  • He enlisted in the Foreign Legion.

  • Russia’s labor and capital resources are woefully inadequate to overcome the state’s needs and vulnerabilities, which are legion.

  • dissatisfied customers and their legion complaints

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The Roman general commanded a blank of over five thousand heavily armed soldiers.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

Attested (in Middle English, as legioun) around 1200, from Old French legion, from Latin legiō, legionem, from legō (“to gather, collect”); akin to legend, lecture. Doublet of León, which was borrowed from Spanish. Generalized sense of “a large number” is due to an allusive phrase in Mark 5:9, "My name is Legion, for we are many".