battalion
[buh-tal-yuh n]
- Military. a ground force unit composed of a headquarters and two or more companies or similar units.
- an army in battle array.
- Often battalions. a large number of persons or things; force: battalions of bureaucrats.
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Origin of battalion
1580–90; < Middle French bataillon < Italian battaglione large squadron of soldiers, equivalent to battagli(a) battalia + -one augmentative suffix
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for battalion
Contemporary Examples
A battalion of riot police armed with shotguns arrived on the scene.
Honoring The Late John Doar, A Nearly Forgotten Hero Of The Civil Rights EraGary May
November 15, 2014
Whether Ukrainian authorities have actually investigated the claims against the battalion's commander and its officers is unclear.
Sergei is not the only soldier who has complained about the conduct of the commander and the officers in the 12th Battalion.
Fighter Sergei was hopeful that judicial investigations have begun into the 12th Battalion when I first met him in September.
The battalion also is short of ammunition, Sergei says, but he insists he would still like to return to battle.
Historical Examples
Here, also, an Austrian battalion was cut off and forced to surrender.
A battalion of mountain guns was attached to certain divisions.
A part of the battalion, in its eagerness to win the day, went on up the ridge.
Then the Kensington battalion, or what was left of it, received the order to retire.
At the same time a battalion of the Manchesters, commanded by Lieut.-Col.
With Manchesters in the EastGerald B. Hurst
battalion
- a military unit comprised of three or more companies or formations of similar size
- (usually plural) any large array
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Word Origin
C16: from French bataillon, from Old Italian battaglione, from battaglia company of soldiers, battle
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for battalion
n.
1580s, from Middle French bataillon (16c.), from Italian battaglione "battle squadron," from diminutive of Vulgar Latin battalia "battle," from Latin bauttere "to beat" (see batter (v.)). Specific sense of "part of a regiment" is from 1708.
Madame, lui répondit-il, ne vous y fiez pas: j'ay tôujours vû Dieu do coté des gros Batallions. [E.Boursault, 1702]
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper