Troops

How to spell troops

6 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce troops

What does troops mean?

1. nounSoldiers or members of the armed forces, especially when considered as a body.
2. verbMoves together as an informal group, often in a steady line.

Troops in a sentence

• noun

  The general ordered the troops to advance at dawn.

• verb

  Every morning the whole family troops into the kitchen for breakfast.

• noun

  Thousands of troops were stationed along the border.

• verb

  The tour group troops obediently behind the guide.

Where does troops come from?

Language of origin: French

This word traces back through the French troupe, meaning a company or band of people, which in turn came from the Old French trope, a flock or herd. Scholars connect it to the Medieval Latin troppus, meaning a flock or a gathering of animals, an idea of creatures clustered together that easily shifted to people grouped together. English adopted it in the 1500s, first for an organised company of soldiers and soon afterwards in the plural for armed forces in general. The closely related troupe still survives in English as the word for a band of actors or performers, which is why troops and troupes are such an easy pair to confuse in writing. Remembering that the soldiers spelling ends in a plain -oops, while the performers keep the French -oupe, is the simplest way to keep them apart.

How the word is built

• troop (a group, body of soldiers)
• -s (plural / third-person verb ending)