2. VARIETIES OF TROOPS, AND THEIR UNITS AND FORMATIONS
Ambulance: French ambulance, movable hospital; Latin ambulare, to go—ambi, around, and root ba, go, as in Greek bainein.
Army: French armée; Latin armata, past participle of armare, to arm, an armed force.
Army Corps: German Armee-Korps, from French Corps d’Armée—Corps from corpus, body.
Artillery: French artillerie; Italian artilleria, the art of the artillarius, or articularius, from articula, dim. of art-em. Used for guns 16th cent.; for the Arm 18th cent. [See [Chap. XVII.], par. 1.]
Battalion: French; Italian battaglione—battaglia (16th cent.). [See [Battle].]
Battery: French batterie—battre; Late Latin battere, beat; Latin batu-ere.
Brigade: French (16th cent.); Spanish brigade—brigar, to brawl; Italian briga, a quarrel. Hence a body of contesting troops.
Carbineers: Cavalry armed with the carabine. Old French calabrin—calabre, war engine, from Low Latin chatabula; Greek kataball-ein, throw down.
Cavalry: French cavallerie (16th cent.); Italian cavalleria; Late Latin caballarius—caballus, a nag.
Column: Latin columna, a column, from columen—culmen, height—cf. collis, hill.
Command: Old French commander, to order; Latin commendare, to entrust to one’s charge—later, to order; from cum and mandare, to order.
Commissariat: from commissary, a person entrusted; Latin com-mittere, to commit to.
Company: Old French compainie; Late Latin companio—cum pane, with bread, i.e. a messmate.
Cuirassiers: French cuirasse (15th cent.), from cuir; Latin corium, leather.
Dragoons: from carrying a short musket called a dragon. Italian dragone; Latin draco-n-em, a dragon.
Echelon: French échelon—échelle, ladder; Latin scala, step—scando, climb.
Engineer (16th cent.): engynour (16th cent.), earlier engigneor; Old French engineur; Late Latin ingeniator (used in 12th cent.), from ingeniare, from ingenium, whence Engine. [See [Chap. XVII.], par. 1.]
File: number of men in depth (1598); a row, from French file; Latin fila, a thread.
Fusiliers: men armed with the fusil, a firelock (17th cent.). Latin focile, a flint, from focus, a hearth-fire.
Gentlemen-at-Arms: originally a band of Horse, created 1509; subsequently Court Officers.
Grenadiers (late 17th. cent.): men armed with the grenade, invented 1594. Spanish grenada, pome-granate, the fruit full of seeds, from Latin granum, grain.
Guards: soldiers who guard the Sovereign. Guard, French garde, is the Teutonic ward, from war, to defend, connected with ware and wary.
Hussars: Hungarian Huszar, from Husz, twenty. Every twentieth man served in the Light Cavalry on the Turkish frontier.
Infantry: French infanterie; Italian infanteria; Latin infant-em, child (16th cent.), i.e. one who cannot speak—in, not, fari, speak.
Lancers: men armed with the lance. French lance; Latin lancea; Greek lonche.
Line: French ligne; Latin linea, a line or string—linum, flax.
Musketeers: men armed with the Musket, which see.
Ordnance Corps: the R.A. and R.E., which were controlled by the Master-General of the Ordnance, an officer created as early as 1414.
Patrol (late 17th cent.) French patrouille: (1539)—patrouiller, to paddle in mud—Old French patoueil, mud.
Platoon: French peloton, a little ball—pelote, a small bundle; Latin pila, a ball.
Rear: Old French riere, behind; Latin retro, back.
Regiment: French régiment, rule; Latin regiment-um—regere, rule.
Rifles: a body of soldiers armed with rifles. Rifle is short for rifled gun; to rifle means to groove—rive, to tear.
Squad: French escouade; Italian squadra, a square; Latin ex-quadra-re, to square, from quatuor, four.
Squadron: from Italian squadrone, a large square. [See [Squad].]
Train: French train; Old French trahiner, to trail; Low Latin trahin-are, from trah-ere, to draw.
Troop: French troupe, connected with root of drive, German treiben, a drove; Italian truppa, by some connected with Latin turba, a crowd, by a not uncommon process of bringing the “r” before the vowel [cf. brent, burnt].
Vanguard: shortened to van; Old French avant garde—avant is Latin ab-ante, from in front. [See [Guard].]