MUSTER (

See also:

• MID

Mid. Eng. mostre, moustre, adapted from the similar O. Fr. forms;

See also:

• LAT

Lat. monstrare)  , originally an exhibition, show, review, an exhibition of strength, prowess or power . One of the meanings of this common Romanic word, viz. pattern, sample, is only used in commercial usage in English . (e.g. in the cutlery trade), but it has passed into Teutonic languages, Ger . Muster, Du. mousier . The most general meaning is for the assembling of soldiers and sailors for inspection and review, and more particularly for the ascertainment and verification of the numbers on the roll . This use is seen in the Med . Lat. monstrum and monstratio, "recensio militum" (Du Cange, Gloss. s.v.) . In the "enlistment" system of army organization during the 16th and 17th centuries, and later in certain special survivals, each regiment was " enlisted " by its colonel and reviewed by special officers, muster-masters," who vouched for the members on the pay roll of the regiment representing its actual strength . This was a necessary precaution in the days when it was in the power of the commander of a unit to fill the muster roll with the names of fictitious men, known in the military slang of France and England as passe-volants and "faggots" respectively . The chief officer at headquarters was the muster-master-general, later commissary general of musters . In the United States the term is still commonly used, and a soldier is " mustered out " when he is officially discharged from military service .