battalion

[buh-tal-yuhn]

noun

1. Military.,  a ground force unit composed of a headquarters and two or more companies or similar units.

2. an army in battle array.

3. Often battalions. a large number of persons or things; force.

   battalions of bureaucrats.

battalion

/ bəˈtæljən /

noun

1. a military unit comprised of three or more companies or formations of similar size

2. (usually plural) any large array

Other Word Forms

• subbattalion noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of battalion¹

1580–90; < Middle French bataillon < Italian battaglione large squadron of soldiers, equivalent to battagli ( a ) battalia ( def. ) + -one augmentative suffix

Word History and Origins

Origin of battalion¹

C16: from French bataillon , from Old Italian battaglione , from battaglia company of soldiers, _battle

Example Sentences

Before us, there is a battalion of unemployed chairs.

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Since then, travel agencies and brokers have drawn people from all over the world to join what they call Russia’s “elite international battalion,” dangling a raft of benefits to attract would-be recruits.

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The battalion formed part of the Indian Corps, which was sent to France in 1914, to shore up the British forces fighting on the Western Front.

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Get them wrong or do them too often and a government's progress can become jolty and piecemeal, and the backbench battalion of the disgruntled grows larger.

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When a battalion chief arrived at the scene to investigate the crash, they were involved in another collision at the same intersection.

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Related Words

• army 
• contingent 
• corps 
• legion 
• squadron 
• unit