phalanx
UK /ˈfælæŋks/ · US /ˈfeɪˌlæŋks/ noun, proper noun
Forms phalanxes phalanges
- noun (historical) An ancient Greek and Macedonian military unit that consisted of several ranks and files (lines) of soldiers in close array with joined shields and long spears.
- noun A large group of people, animals or things, compact or closely massed, or tightly knit and united in common purpose.
- noun (historical sociology) A Fourierite utopian community; a phalanstery.
- noun (anatomy) One of the bones of the finger or toe.
- noun (botany) A bundle of stamens, in diadelphous and polyadelphous flowers.
- proper noun The brand name of a radar-controlled rapid fire 20mm Gatling-type machine gun, the Phalanx CIWS (pronounced see-wiz), deployed on U.S. Navy ships as a last line of defense against antiship cruise missiles.
Synonyms
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin phalanx or Ancient Greek φάλαγξ (phálanx, “battle order; array”). Doublet of phalange, planch, plancha, planche, and plank.
Webster’s 1913
- noun A body of heavy-armed infantry formed in ranks and files close and deep. There were several different arrangements, the phalanx varying in depth from four to twenty-five or more ranks of men. "In cubic phalanx firm advanced." Milton.
- noun Any body of troops or men formed in close array, or any combination of people distinguished for firmness and solidity of a union.
Etymology [L., from Gr. 1. (Gr. Antiq.) Defn: A body of heavy-armed infantry formed in ranks and files close and deep. There were several different arrangements, the phalanx varying in depth from four to twenty-five or more ranks of men. "In cubic phalanx firm advanced." Milton. The Grecian phalanx, moveless as a tower. Pope. 2. Any body of troops or men formed in close array, or any combination of people distinguished for firmness and solidity of a union. At present they formed a united phalanx. Macaulay. The sheep recumbent, and the sheep that grazed, All huddling into phalanx, stood and gazed. Cowper. 3. A Fourierite community; a phalanstery. 4. (Anat.) Defn: One of the digital bones of the hand or foot, beyond the metacarpus or metatarsus; an internode. 5. Etym: [pl. Phalanges.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “phalanx”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details