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Officer commanding little group (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

octad

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'group' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I don't understand how they can define each other.

'officer commanding little' is the wordplay.
'officer commanding' becomes 'oc' (this could be a standard abbreviation I've not previously seen).
'little' becomes 'tad' (both can mean a small amount).
'oc'+'tad'='OCTAD'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for octad that I've seen before include "quarter-finalists, perhaps" , "Group" , "Crew, perhaps" , "E.g. quarterfinalists" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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