Le"gion (?), n. [OE. legioun, OF. legion, F. l'egion, fr. L. legio, fr. legere to gather, collect. See Legend.]

1. Rom. Antiq.

A body of foot soldiers and cavalry consisting of different numbers at different periods, -- from about four thousand to about six thousand men, -- the cavalry being about one tenth.

2.

A military force; an army; military bands.

3.

A great number; a multitude.

Where one sin has entered,legions will force their way through the same breach. Rogers.

4. Taxonomy

A group of orders inferior to a class.

Legion of honor, an order instituted by the French government in 1802, when Bonaparte was First Consul, as a reward for merit, both civil and military.

 

© Webster 1913.