Phalanx
Phalanx , noun
[Latin, from Greek fa`lagx.]
1.
(Greek Antiquities) 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.
In cubic phalanx firm advanced.
The Grecian phalanx, moveless as a tower.
2.
Any body of troops or men formed in close array, or any combination of people distinguished for firmness and solidity of a union.
At present they formed a united phalanx.
The sheep recumbent, and the sheep that grazed,
All huddling into phalanx, stood and gazed.
3.
A Fourierite community; a phalanstery.
4.
(Anatomy) One of the digital bones of the hand or foot, beyond the metacarpus or metatarsus; an internode.
5.
(Botany) A group or bundle of stamens, as in polyadelphous flowers.