troop

Etymology

Attested in English since 1545, from French troupe (back-formation of troupeau, diminutive of Medieval Latin troppus "flock") and Middle French trouppe (from Old French trope (“band, company, troop”)), both of Germanic origin from Frankish *þorp (“assembly, gathering”), from Proto-Germanic *þurpą (“village, land, estate”), from Proto-Indo-European *treb- (“dwelling, settlement”). Doublet of troupe, and possibly also of thorp and dorp. Cognate with German Dorf (“village”).

noun

1. (collective) A collection of people; a number; a multitude (in general).
2. (military) A small unit of cavalry or armour commanded by a captain, corresponding to a platoon or company of infantry.
3. A detachment of soldiers or police, especially horse artillery, armour, or state troopers.
4. (chiefly in the plural) A group of soldiers; military forces.
5. (nonstandard) An individual soldier or member of a military force.
   One American M48 was slightly grazed and one American troop lightly wounded. 2018-08-08, Donald R. White, Death In a Lonely Place, Lulu.com, page 82
   Although the mission failed, at least 5 ISIL militants were killed, however 1 American troop was wounded. According to the reports, Jordan had a role in the operation and that one Jordanian soldier had been wounded as well. (Can we date this quote?), Victor Grant-Lawrence, Conspiracy Theories And Stuff, Lulu.com
   2022, CNN, First Russian troop to speak out publicly against Putin’s war. Hear what he has to say (archived)
6. (nonstandard) A company of actors; a troupe.
   In order to form the new troop to a greater degree of perfection, the four principal actors were placed in the seminary of the cadets 1784, William Coxe, Travels into Poland, Russia, Sweden and Denmark
7. (scouting) A chapter of a national girl or boy scouts organization, consisting of one or more patrols of 6 to 8 youngsters each.
   Lord Baden-Powell of Gilwell (1920) Aids To Scoutmastership, page 6: “It is the Patrol System that makes the Troop, and all Scouting for that matter, a real co-operative effort.”
8. (collective) A group of baboons.
9. A group of meerkat families living together.
10. A particular roll of the drum; a quick march.
11. (mycology) Mushrooms that are in a close group but not close enough to be called a cluster.

verb

1. To move in numbers; to come or gather in crowds or troops.
2. To march on; to go forward in haste.
3. To move or march as if in a crowd.
   The children trooped into the room.