platoonyoudaoicibaDictYouDict[platoon 词源字典]
platoon: [17] Platoon means etymologically ‘little ball’. It comes from French peloton, a diminutive form of pelote ‘ball’ (source of English pellet). The notion of a ‘small ball’ was extended in French to a ‘little cluster of people or group of soldiers’ – hence the meaning of English platoon.
=> pellet, pelota[platoon etymology, platoon origin, 英语词源]
platoon (n.)youdaoicibaDictYouDict
1630s, from French peloton "platoon, group of people," from Middle French peloton (15c.), literally "little ball," hence, "agglomeration," diminutive of Old French pelote "ball" (see pellet).
platoon (v.)youdaoicibaDictYouDict
in baseball, "to alternate (a player) with another in the same position," 1967, from platoon (n.), which had been used in team sports since 1941.