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troop

Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.

Letters

5 characters

Language

English

word origin

Source

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Detailed reference entry for the English word "troop", 5-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "troop" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "troop" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

troop is aEnglishnoun. It means: A collection of people; a number; a multitude (in general). Pronounced /tɹuːp/. Often confused with TRP and Troy.

Key facts for troop
PropertyValue
Headwordtroop
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/tɹuːp/
Letters5
Frequency rank#11,486
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of troop in English word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for troop is 5 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /tɹuːp/. Corpus data places it at rank #11,486 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it.Wiktionary records 11 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 7 documented wrong-spelling variants for troop, with forms such as "rtoop", "torop", and "troopp". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "TRP", "Troy", "trot", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: 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, do… Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is troop, spelled T-R-O-O-P, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    A collection of people; a number; a multitude (in general).
  2. 2
    A small unit of cavalry or armour commanded by a captain, corresponding to a platoon or company of infantry.
  3. 3
    A detachment of soldiers or police, especially horse artillery, armour, or state troopers.
  4. 4
    A group of soldiers; military forces.
  5. 5
    An individual soldier or member of a military force; a trooper.
  6. 6
    A company of actors; a troupe.
  7. 7
    A chapter of a national girl or boy scouts organization, consisting of one or more patrols of 6 to 8 youngsters each.
  8. 8
    A group of monkeys.
  9. 9
    A group of meerkat families living together.
  10. 10
    A particular roll of the drum; a quick march.
  11. 11
    A group of mushrooms that are close but not close enough to be called a cluster.

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”).

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: rtoop,torop,troopp,trop,tropo,trroop,ttroop

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for troop

Misspelling Variants of "troop"

rtoop5torop5troopp6trop4tropo5trroop6ttroop6
Misspelling Variants of "troop"

Frequency rank: #11,486 in English

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "troop"?
"troop" is spelled T-R-O-O-P. The IPA pronunciation is /tɹuːp/.
What does "troop" mean?
As a noun, "troop" means: A collection of people; a number; a multitude (in general).
What words are commonly confused with "troop"?
"troop" is commonly confused with "TRP", "Troy", "trot". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "troop"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "troop" is /tɹuːp/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "troop"?
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... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Nearby English words

Other entries that begin with the letter T in our English index:

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Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.