Phalanx
Webster's Dictionary [1]
(1): ( n.) A body of heavy-armed infantry formed in ranks and files close and deep. There were several different arrangements, the phalanx varying in depth from four to twenty-five or more ranks of men.
(2): ( n.) Any body of troops or men formed in close array, or any combination of people distinguished for firmness and solidity of a union.
(3): ( n.) A group or bundle of stamens, as in polyadelphous flowers.
(4): ( n.) One of the digital bones of the hand or foot, beyond the metacarpus or metatarsus; an internode.
(5): ( n.) A Fourierite community; a phalanstery.
The Nuttall Encyclopedia [2]
Among the Greeks a body of heavy infantry armed with long spears and short swords, standing in line close behind one another, generally 8 men deep, the Macedonian being as much as 16; its movements were too heavy, and it was dashed in pieces before the legions of Rome to its extinction; it was superseded by the Roman legion.
