Butterfly Musings

I have noticed during the past few years that our society is using the word troop to mean an individual military person. I kept thinking it was not the correct usage so finally, this morning, looked it up in my dictionary. Being my copy is a 1986 version, I looked at the online dictionary to see if the usage had changed. It had not. The meanings at both resources are:

troop noun

1. an assemblage of persons or things; company; band.

2. a great number or multitude: A whole troop of children swarmed through the museum.

3. Military . an armored cavalry or cavalry unit consisting of two or more platoons and a headquarters group.

4. troops, a body of soldiers, police, etc.: Mounted troops quelled the riot.

5. a unit of Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts usually having a maximum of 32 members under the guidance of an adult leader.

 

troop·er   noun

1. a horse-cavalry soldier.

2. a mounted police officer; a police officer on horseback.

3. state trooper.

4. a cavalry horse.