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Glite Dictionary
Legionnaire

Legionnaire

3 7.3
A member of the American Legion, an organization for people who served in the United States military
  • noun
  • /ˌliːdʒəˈnɛr/
  • US
: legionario
  • Legionnaire Smith attended the annual meeting of the American Legion to honor fellow veterans.
  • Legionnaires' disease

Examples

  • After serving in the military, many veterans proudly identify as Legionnaires.

  • During the event, each Legionnaire shared stories about their experiences in service.

  • Is there a Legionnaire Brown here?

    Morocco (1930)

  • I'm looking for Legionnaire Tom Brown.

    Morocco (1930)

  • Legionnaire Tom Brown will probably come back tonight.

    Morocco (1930)

  • And so did 19 other brave Legionnaires who died for us today.

    Legionnaire (1998)

  • Good luck, Legionnaire Brown.

    Morocco (1930)

  • The following Legionnaires will step forward for today's patrol.

    Fiction book (1998)

  • Alain and Luther, at a table with other surviving Legionnaires, eat soup and drink coffee.

    Fiction book (1998)

  • You are Legionnaires.

    Fiction book (1998)

Surface Forms

Legionnaire singular
Legionnaires plural

Morphology

Legionnaire = legion (semi-transparent) = legion + naire

The meaning 'member of a legion' is predictable from 'legion' + '-naire', but the suffix '-naire' is a borrowed, not fully productive element and the specific reference to the American Legion is a cultural naming.

Etymology

Legionnaire comes from the word legion, which meant 'a large group of soldiers', and a legionnaire was originally a soldier in such a group. That's why today a Legionnaire is a member of the American Legion — a group of military veterans.