Troop Meaning
/tɹuːp/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounA collection of people; a number; a multitude (in general).
nounA small unit of cavalry or armour commanded by a captain, corresponding to a platoon or company of infantry.
Sentence Examples
The membership of the Boy Scout troop swelled.
We saw a troop of monkeys moving from tree to tree.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The general ordered the ____ of soldiers to advance toward the enemy.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
A ____ of scouts spent the whole weekend camping in the woods and learning important survival and safety skills today.
Word Origin & History
Attested in English since 1545, from French troupe, from Back-formation from troupeau, from Middle French trope, troupe, from Old French trope, trupe, of unknown origin. Compare Early Medieval Latin troppus. Doublet of troupe, and possibly also of thorp, dorp, and trip. Cognate with German Dorf (“village”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"That which should accompany old age — / As honour, love, obedience, troops of friends — / I must not look to have."
— c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene iii]:
"Ah, knovv you not the Citie fauours them, / And they haue troupes of Souldiers at their beck?"
— c. 1591–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Third Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i], page 147, column 2:
"Farewell the plumed troop, and the big wars."
— c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Othello, the Moore of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iii]:
"His troops moved to victory with the precision of machines."
— 1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter I, in The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volume (please specify |volume=I to V), London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC:
"One American M48 was slightly grazed and one American troop lightly wounded."
— 2018 August 8, Donald R. White, Death In a Lonely Place, Lulu.com, →ISBN, page 82:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The general ordered the ____ of soldiers to advance toward the enemy.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
A ____ of scouts spent the whole weekend camping in the woods and learning important survival and safety skills today.