legionary

English

Reenactors of Ancient Roman legionaries

Etymology

legion +‎ -ary. From Latin legiōnārius. Doublet of legionnaire.

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈlidʒəˌnɛɹi/
• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈliːdʒənəɹi/, /ˈliːdʒənɹi/

Noun

legionary (plural legionaries)

1. (military, Ancient Rome) A soldier belonging to a legion; a professional soldier of the ancient Roman army.
   • 1959, Anthony Burgess, Beds in the East (The Malayan Trilogy), published 1972, page 425:

     Suddenly, [...] he saw all this as romantic — the last legionary, his aloneness, the lost cause really lost — and instinctively he pulled in his paunch, stroked down his hair to cover the naked part of the scalp, and wiped the sweat off his cheeks.

2. A person who is neither a citizen nor colonial/imperial subject of the state whose military they join.
3. A member of a legion, such as the American Legion, or of any organization containing the term legion in its title (e.g. the French Foreign Legion).

Synonyms

• (member of a Legion organisation): legionnaire

Holonyms

• (soldier of the Ancient Roman legion): contubernium, maniple, century, legion

Coordinate terms

• (soldier of the Ancient Roman legion): centurion

Derived terms

• legionary ant

 

Translations

member of a legion

• Bulgarian: легионер m (legioner)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 軍團士兵／军团士兵 (jūntuán shìbīng)

• Czech: legionář (cs) m
• Danish: legionær c
• Dutch: legionair (nl)
• Esperanto: legiano sg
• Finnish: legioonalainen (fi)
• French: légionnaire (fr) m
• Galician: lexionario m
• German: Legionär (de) m
• Greek: λεγεωνάριος (el) m (legeonários)
• Hungarian: légionista (hu), légiós (hu)
• Italian: legionario (it) m
• Kazakh: легионер (legioner), легион жауынгері (legion jauyñerı), легион сарбазы (legion sarbazy)
• Norman: légionnaithe m
• Polish: legionista (pl) m
• Portuguese: legionário (pt) m
• Romanian: legionar (ro) m
• Russian: легионе́р (ru) m (legionér)
• Spanish: legionario (es) m
• Swedish: legionär (sv)
• Ukrainian: легіоне́р m (lehionér)

Adjective

legionary (not comparable)

1. Relating to, or consisting of, a legion or legions.

   a legionary force

2. Containing a great number.
   • 1646, Sir Thomas Browne, Pseudodoxia Epidemica (aka, Vulgar Errours), Google Books

     Unto whom (what is deplorable in men and Christians) too many applying themselves, betwixt jest and earnest, betray the cause of truth, and insensibly make up the legionary body of error.

References

• Elizabeth M.F. Grasmeder, "Leaning on Legionnaires: Why Modern States Recruit Foreign Soldiers," International Security (July 2021), Vol 46 (No. 1), pp. 147–195.

Anagrams

• o'erlaying