legion [ME] For the Romans a legion was the largest unit of the army, which at different times comprised 3000 to 6000 men or, more loosely, a vast number. It came from the verb legere ‘to choose, to levy an army’ and is thus related to words at *elegant, *intellect, and *legend. Legere also gives us collect [E16th] from co- ‘with, together’, neglect [E16th] with negative ne- in front, election [ME] from eligere ‘pick out, choose’, and select [M16th] formed with se- ‘apart’