troop
UK /tɹuːp/ · US /tɹup/ noun, verb, proper noun
Forms troops trooping trooped
- noun (collective) A collection of people; a number; a multitude (in general).
- noun (military) A small unit of cavalry or armour commanded by a captain, corresponding to a platoon or company of infantry.
- noun (military) A detachment of soldiers or police, especially horse artillery, armour, or state troopers.
- noun (military, chiefly in the plural) A group of soldiers; military forces.
- noun (acting, nonstandard) A company of actors; a troupe.
- noun (scouting) A chapter of a national girl or boy scouts organization, consisting of one or more patrols of 6 to 8 youngsters each.
- noun (military, nonstandard, by extension) An individual soldier or member of a military force; a trooper.
- noun A group of primates (lemurs, monkeys and apes).
- verb To move in numbers; to come or gather in crowds or troops.
- verb To march on; to go forward in haste.
- verb To move or march as if in a crowd. “The children trooped into the room.”
- proper noun A surname.
Synonyms
Etymology
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”).
Webster’s 1913
- noun A collection of people; a company; a number; a multitude.
- noun Soldiers, collectively; an army; --now generally used in the plural.
- verb To move in numbers; to come or gather in crowds or troops. "Armies . . . troop to their standard." Milton.
- verb To march on; to go forward in haste.
Etymology [F. troupe, OF. trope, trupe, LL. troppus; of uncertain origin; cf. Icel. þorp a hamlet, village, G. dorf a village, dial. G. dorf a meeting. Norw. torp a little farm, a crowd, E. thorp. Cf. Troupe.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “troop”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details