legion
le·gion/ˈli.d͡ʒən/adjective, noun, verb
legion is an adjective meaning “Numerous; vast; very great in number” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is spelled L-E-G-I-O-N and has 2 syllables (le·gion), and it appears 7.2 times per million words in written English (wordfreq, 2021 data).
What does legion mean?
adjective
- 1
Numerous; vast; very great in number.
Russia’s labor and capital resources are woefully inadequate to overcome the state’s needs and vulnerabilities, which are legion.
noun
- 1
The major unit or division of the Roman army, usually comprising 3000 to 6000 infantry soldiers and 100 to 200 cavalry troops.
- 2
A combined arms major military unit featuring cavalry, infantry, and artillery, including historical units such as the British Legion, and present-day units such as the Spanish Legion and the French Foreign Legion.
- 3
A large military or semi-military unit trained for combat; any military force; an army, regiment; an armed, organized and assembled militia.
- 4
A national organization or association of former servicemen, such as the American Legion.
- 5
A large number of people; a multitude.
Their complicated affairs are managed by a legion of accountants.
- 6
A great number.
- 7
datedA group of orders inferior to a class; in scientific classification, a term occasionally used to express an assemblage of objects intermediate between an order and a class.
verb
- 1
To form into legions.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you pronounce legion?
- UK /ˈliː.d͡ʒən/
- US /ˈli.d͡ʒən/
Legion has 2 syllables, split le·gion in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-legion.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of legion
- legions plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- legioning participle, present
- legioned participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How common is legion?
Legion appears 7.2 times per million words in written English, the 8,784th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Legion in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does legion come from?
Attested (in Middle English, as legioun) around 1200, from Old French legion, from Latin legiō, legionem, from legō (“to gather, collect”); akin to legend, lecture. Doublet of León, which was borrowed from Spanish. Generalized sense of “a large number” is due to an allusive phrase in Mark 5:9, "My name is Legion, for we are many".
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).