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What led to this new usage? Are there any clues as to its origin (i.e., is there a particular journalist or political figure who introduced it)? Is it on the upswing as I suspect (are there any reputable dictionaries which attest it)?

Background

For most of my life, I understood troop to mean a body of soldiers, as attested by Etymonline.com:

troop (n.)
1540s, “body of soldiers,” from Middle French troupe, from Old French trope “band of people, company, troop” (13c.), probably from Frankish *throp “assembly, gathering of people” (cf. Old English ðorp, Old Norse thorp “village,” see thorp). OED derives the French word from Latin troppus “flock,” which is of unknown origin but may be from the Germanic source.¹

But in the past twenty or years or so I have noticed troop used, particularly in journalism, to mean an individual (a “trooper”). This usage seems to be on the upswing. Here are two typical examples from last year:

CBS News
Taliban insurgents killed 10 Afghan troops in an ambush in western Herat province, police and government officials said Tuesday, as one U.S. troop was killed in an attack on the other side of the country.²

The Huffington Post
Among the combat wounded from all the military services are 1,572 patients with major limb amputations, including 486 wounded troops with multiple amputations. These numbers do not include those who suffered the loss of fingers or toes.³ [emphasis added]

I have not yet seen the true singular form meaning an individual attested by any dictionaries, but it is definitely in use as shown above.

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MetaEd
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    This is from kids not listening to enough Iron Maiden. – Kaz Feb 01 '13 at 07:22
  • @Kaz ...or Abba. – Andrew Leach Feb 01 '13 at 07:31
  • Conjecture: "15 of the troops were killed" became "15 troops were killed". – coleopterist Feb 01 '13 at 08:18
  • The word troop is not just a body of soldiers, generally. It refers to particular forms of military unit in particular military branches, usually equivalent to a platoon. Today, a troop is defined differently in different armed forces. This article explains it in detail http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troop – Tristan Feb 01 '13 at 17:13
  • @Tristan Yes, I understand that the particular body of soldiers it refers to can differ from force to force. But I think it will just confuse the question if I add that amount of detail. – MetaEd Feb 01 '13 at 17:35
  • Ed, that's why I mentioned this in the form of a comment, rather than an answer. In case you didn't know, but also for the benefit of anyone else who would view this page. Interestingly, the word troop is not only used in the context of armies, but other kinds of armed forces, as well. The Royal Marines are an example of that. – Tristan Feb 01 '13 at 17:42
  • @Tristan I should let you know that comments are temporary and not good for open ended discussion. They are used to guide the OP to improve the Q (or A) and, though some comments do manage an awfully long shelf life, they are always subject to cleanup by moderators. A great place to carry on open discussion is the chatroom at http://chat.stackexchange.com/rooms/95/english-language-usage. Come join us there! – MetaEd Feb 01 '13 at 17:46
  • Would it be better if I posted that information, as an answer? – Tristan Feb 01 '13 at 17:55
  • @Tristan If it answers the question. – MetaEd Feb 01 '13 at 18:08
  • I had assumed the troop in the slogan "Support Our Troops" was equivalent to a soldier in "Support Our Soldiers". Perhaps this sort of thing is contributing to the change in meaning. – Hugo Feb 01 '13 at 22:49
  • Relevant visual thesaurus article: "A Troop of One" November 11, 2009, by Neal Whitman – herisson Sep 25 '17 at 17:01

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OED has a citation:

troop, n.
2 pl.
a. Armed forces collectively. Also fig.
1598 R. Barret Theorike & Pract. Mod. Warres v.136 : Fraunce, and Flanders, too full of his pencionary troops.

So its use as a plural is long attested. However there is also

Draft Additions 1993
Chiefly in sing. [Irreg. < the collect. plural: in some cases perhaps abbrev. of Trooper n.,] A member of a troop of soldiers (or other servicemen); a soldier, a trooper. colloq. (chiefly Mil.)

and that is attested in quotation marks in 1832, and without in 1947.

Andrew Leach
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