different between legion vs mob

English

Etymology

Attested (in Middle English, as legioun) around 1200, from Old French legion, from Latin legi?, legionem, from leg? (“to gather, collect”); akin to legend, lecture.

Generalized sense of “a large number” is due to (inaccurate) translations of allusive phrase in Mark 5:9.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?li?d??n/
• Rhymes: -i?d??n

Adjective

legion (not comparable)

1. Numerous; vast; very great in number

   Synonyms: multitudinous, numerous

Translations

Noun

legion (plural legions)

1. (military, Ancient Rome) The major unit or division of the Roman army, usually comprising 3000 to 6000 infantry soldiers and 100 to 200 cavalry troops.

   Meronyms: cohort, maniple, century

2. (military, obsolete) A combined arms major military unit featuring cavalry, infantry, and artillery.

   Coordinate terms: combat team, regimental combat team, brigade combat team

3. (military) A large military or semi-military unit trained for combat; any military force; an army, regiment; an armed, organized and assembled militia.
4. (often Legion or the Legion) A national organization or association of former servicemen, such as the American Legion.
5. A large number of people; a multitude.

   Synonyms: host, mass, multitude, sea, throng

6. (often plural) A great number.
7. (dated, taxonomy) A 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.

Coordinate terms

• (military unit): fireteam, section, troop, squad, platoon, company, battalion, regiment, brigade, division, corps, wing, army, army group

Related terms

• legionary
• legionnaire

Derived terms

• superlegion
• sublegion
• infralegion

Translations

Verb

legion (third-person singular simple present legions, present participle legioning, simple past and past participle legioned)

1. (transitive) To form into legions.

Quotations

Further reading

• Roman legion on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• legion (taxonomy) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• legion (demons) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• legion in popular culture on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

References

Anagrams

• eloign, longie, ogle-in

Danish

Etymology

Ultimately from Latin l?gi?.

Noun

legion c (singular definite legionen, plural indefinite legioner)

1. legion

Declension

Esperanto

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /le??ion/
• Hyphenation: le?gi?on
• Rhymes: -ion

Noun

legion

1. accusative singular of legio

Middle French

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /le??jõ?/

Noun

legion f (plural legions)

1. (military) legion

Descendants

• French: légion

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

Ultimately from Latin l?gi?.

Noun

legion m (definite singular legionen, indefinite plural legioner, definite plural legionene)

1. legion

Further reading

• “legion” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

Ultimately from Latin l?gi?.

Noun

legion m (definite singular legionen, indefinite plural legionar, definite plural legionane)

1. legion

Further reading

• “legion” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Polish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?l???.j?n/

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

legion m inan

1. legion

Declension

Swedish

Etymology

Ultimately from Latin l?gi?.

Noun

legion c

1. legion

Declension

Anagrams

• logien

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: m?b, IPA^(key): /m?b/
• (General American) enPR: m?b, IPA^(key): /m?b/
• Rhymes: -?b

Etymology 1

From Middle English mob, short for mobile, from Latin m?bile (vulgus) (“fickle (crowd)”). The video-gaming sense originates from English mobile, used by Richard Bartle for objects capable of movement in an early MUD.

Noun

mob (plural mobs)

1. A large or disorderly group of people; especially one bent on riotous or destructive action.
   • February 13, 1788, James Madison, Jr., Federalist No. 55

     Had every Athenian citizen been a Socrates, every Athenian assembly would still have been a mob.

2. (collective noun) A group of animals such as horses or cattle.
3. A flock of emus.
4. The Mafia, or a similar group that engages in organized crime (preceded by the).

   • The Bat—they called him the Bat. […]. He'd never been in stir, the bulls had never mugged him, he didn't run with a mob, he played a lone hand, and fenced his stuff so that even the fence couldn't swear he knew his face.

   • 1986, Paul Chadwick, Concrete: Under the Desert Stars, Dark Horse Books

     What if it is a mob killing? They can’t hurt me, but …

5. (video games) A non-player character, especially one that exists to be fought or killed to further the progression of the story or game.
   • 2002, "Wolfie", Re: Whoa - massive changes due in next patch (on newsgroup alt.games.everquest)

     You can't win with small, balanced groups. You have to zerg the mob with a high number of players.

6. (archaic) The lower classes of a community; the rabble.
7. (Australian Aboriginal) A group of Aboriginal people associated with an extended family group, clan group or wider community group, from a particular place or country.
   • 2011 March 10, Allan Clarke, W.A. through Noongar eyes

     There’s nothing like local knowledge and after thousands of years living here the Noongar mob understand this land better than anyone, so it makes sense for them to tap into the lucrative tourism industry.

Synonyms

• (mafia): mafia, Mafia

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

mob (third-person singular simple present mobs, present participle mobbing, simple past and past participle mobbed)

1. (transitive) To crowd around (someone), sometimes with hostility.

   The fans mobbed a well-dressed couple who resembled their idols.
2. (transitive) To crowd into or around a place.

   The shoppers mobbed the store on the first day of the sale.

Translations

Etymology 2

Alteration of mab.

Noun

mob (plural mobs)

1. (obsolete) A promiscuous woman; a harlot or wench; a prostitute. [17th-18th c.]
2. A mob cap.
   • c. 1773-1774, Oliver Goldsmith, letter to Mrs Bunbury

     cover their faces with mobs

Derived terms

• mob cap

Verb

mob (third-person singular simple present mobs, present participle mobbing, simple past and past participle mobbed)

1. (transitive) To wrap up in, or cover with, a cowl.

Etymology 3

Abbreviation of mobile phone.

Noun

mob (plural mobs)

1. mobile phone

Usage notes

• This is most often used in signwriting to match with the other three-letter abbreviations tel (“telephone”) and fax (“facsimile”).

Further reading

• Mob in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)

References

Anagrams

• BMO, BOM, BoM, MBO, OMB

Danish

Verb

mob

1. imperative of mobbe

French

Etymology

Abbreviated form of mobylette.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /m?b/

Noun

mob f (plural mobs)

1. (colloquial) scooter, moped

Further reading

• “mob” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Volapük

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mob/

Noun

mob (nominative plural mobs)

1. suggestion

Declension

Derived terms

• mobön

White Hmong

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /m??/

Etymology

From Proto-Hmong-Mien *?mun (“illness, pain”). Cognate with Iu Mien mun.

Verb

mob

1. to be ill/sick; to hurt; to be unwell

References

• Ernest E. Heimbach, White Hmong - English Dictionary (1979, SEAP Publications)