troop

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
troop/truːp/

▶noun

• 1 (troops) soldiers or armed forces.

• 2 a cavalry unit commanded by a captain.

  ■ a unit of artillery and armoured formation.

  ■ a group of three or more Scout patrols.

• 3 a group of people or animals of a particular kind.

▶verb (of a group of people) come or go together or in large numbers.

– phrases
troop the colour Brit. perform the ceremony of parading a regiment's flag along ranks of soldiers.

– origin C16: from Fr. troupe, back-form. from troupeau, dimin. of med. L. troppus ‘flock’, prob. of Gmc origin.