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.

Attribution / Disclaimer All definitions come directly from Wiktionary using the Wiktextract library. We do not edit or curate the definitions for any words, if you feel the definition listed is incorrect or offensive please suggest modifications directly to the source (wiktionary/troop), any changes made to the source will update on this page periodically.