Etymology

platoon

P3L1A1T1O1O1N1

Today it means: A unit of thirty to forty soldiers typically commanded by a lieutenant and forming part of a company. Full definition →

French plauton ← Middle French pelote
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The story

  1. Middle French · derived frompelote
  2. French · derived fromplauton
  3. English todayplatoon

From obsolete French plauton, variant of peloton, from Middle French pelote + -on. Doublet of peloton. Compare pellet.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.