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.