Ok, i'll have one last stab at this, simply because I'm bored and there's nothing on tv
Now, I do understand that the word
army can sometimes be used in a more general sense to describe any group, but usually when dealing with
military groups, the word army is quite specific. And bearing in mind Tolkien was a distinguished language professor, he would surely have known the definition of the word.
The definition of an
army.
American Heritage Dictionary:
A large body of people organized and trained for
land warfare.
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia:
Large, organized force armed and trained for war, especially on
land
Columbia Encyclopedia:
Large armed
land force, under regular military control, organization, and discipline
Wikipedia:
An army (from Latin arma "arms, weapons" via Old French armée, "armed" (feminine)), in the broadest sense, is the
land-based military of a nation or state
The free dictionary.com:
A large body of people organized and trained for
land warfare
Collins English Dictionary:
(Military) the military
land forces of a nation
Collins Thesaurus of the English language:
Soldiers, troops, armed force, legions, infantry, military force,
land forces,
land force,
Webster's New World Dictionary:
A large, organized body of soldiers for waging war, esp. on
land
Princeton's Wordnet:
(noun) army, regular army,
ground forces
a permanent organization of the military
land forces of a nation or state
Kernerman English Learner’s Dictionary:
(noun) army , a
land defense force
Cambridge Dictionary Online:
a military force that has the training and equipment to fight on
land