Le″gion (lē″jŭn), n. [OE. legioun, OF. legion, F. légion, fr. L. legio, fr. legere to gather, collect. See Legend.] 1. (Rom. Antiq.) A body of foot soldiers and cavalry consisting of different numbers at different periods, — from about four thousand to about six thousand men, — the cavalry being about one tenth.
2. A military force; an army; military bands.
3. A great number; a multitude.
Where one sin has entered, legions will force their way through the same breach. Rogers.
4. (Taxonomy) A group of orders inferior to a class.
Legion of honor, an order instituted by the French government in 1802, when Bonaparte was First Consul, as a reward for merit, both civil and military.