Troop

The term troop has several different meanings, depending on context. It derives from the middle French word Troupe (1540's), which present-day means an actor or other form of entertainer, typically one with long experience. The verb Troop means "to assemble" or "to march" and the noun, in it's simplest form, means "body of soldiers." Troop also generally refers to a small military formation of cavalry, subordinate to a squadron. In many armies a troop is the equivalent element to the infantry section or platoon. A cavalry soldier of private rank is called a trooper in many Commonwealth armies and is usually abbreviated as "Tpr."

However, in this particular definition, term "troop" or its plural form "troops" refers to members of the military as a collective, namely as in "the troops" - a body of soldiers.