See Also: Gironde(dictionary)
Gironde Estuary(encyclopedia)

legion (iou) and Gironde (iou)


legion (iou)



legion noun & adjective. ME.
[Old French legiun, -ion (mod. legion) from Latin legio(n-), from legere choose, levy: see -ION.]
A. noun.
a. Hist. A body of infantry in the Roman army, ranging in number from 3,000 to 6,000 (at the time of Marius), and usu. combined with many cavalry. ME.
b. Any of various (esp. Continental) military bodies of modern times. L16.
gen. An armed host, (a part of) an army. literary. ME.
A vast host or multitude, esp. of angels or spirits. ME.
Bible (AV): Matthew 26:53 He shall presently giue me more then twelue legions of Angels. M. L. King We are marching no longer by ones and twos but in legions of thousands.
Any of various national associations of ex-servicemen and (now) ex-servicewomen instituted after the war of 1914-18. E20.
American Legion, Royal British Legion, Canadian Legion, etc.
Phrases: foreign legion a body of foreign volunteers in the French army, in the 19th and early 20th cents., employed in the colonies or on distant expeditions and famed for their audacity and endurance. Legion of Honour a French order of distinction, founded by Napoleon in 1802, conferred as a reward for civil or military Services. legion of the lost (ones) people who are destitute or abandoned.
Comb.: Legion disease, Legion fever (esp. Journalists' slang) = legionnaires' disease s.v. LEGIONNAIRE.
b. adjective.
Innumerable, widespread. Esp. (with allus. to Mark 5:9) in my name is legion, their name is legion, etc. L17.
Times The inaccuracies were so legion.
attrib. Of or pertaining to a national legion of ex-servicemen and ex-servicewomen. M20.
legioned adjective (poet.) arrayed in legions E19.

Gironde (iou)



Gironde noun. L18.
[A department of SW France.]
French History. The Girondist party.