Collective noun: Encyclopedia II - Collective noun - Collective nouns

Collective noun - Collective nouns

Several collective nouns perform double, triple or even more duties. "Herd" is a legitimate collective noun for dozens of animals and (rather curiously) the mythical fairy. Also interestingly, "herd" can be used with wild horses and domestic cattle, but not with domestic horses. Likewise, "flock" is a generic collective noun for all sorts of flying birds and also for sheep. The all-time champion collective noun is "set", for it can legitimately be used as a collective noun for a vast number of concepts (a set of ideals, plans, ambitions, principles, objectives, mathematical objects, etc) or inanimate (typically manufactured) objects (knives, spoons, keys, dinnerware, manuals, etc).

The collective nouns here generally can be used to describe any sized group of the relevant subject. Occasionally they can only be used to describe the subject performing a specific action; eg. a "paddling of ducks" only refers to duck on water. Certain nouns have been excluded from this list because the collective noun is too highly specific and/or could be used to describe a single subject. A single cow can "stampede" (an unusual, but legitimate usage) and a single committee member can conceivably constitute a "quorum".

All of the collective nouns presented have been verified in one or more dictionaries, except where noted as "spurious" or "uncertain". English usage is, of course, in a constant state of evolution, hence the denotation of "uncertain" should not be taken to mean that the noun is categorically wrong, but only that no verification has been found (as yet) in a dictionary.

Other misinterpretations are included as well; some on-line resources give "rookery" as a collective noun for seals, penguins or herons, however this is incorrect. The term only refers to the breeding territory itself, and not to the collection of animals.

A significant number of collective nouns involve what must be considered "non-standard" usage of certain words. Some of the examples given for birds are quite fanciful; eg. "A murder of crows", "an exaltation of larks". Nearly everyone would be familiar with the term "library" as it pertains to books, but few would expect to see it as a collective term for any set of books, anywhere (most would assume it to mean a building or room containing books). However this usage (admittedly obscure) is legitimate and is thus included.

Several of the collective nouns presented are specifically regional (it is unlikely that a "disworship of Scots" was used in Scotland with any frequency). This article does not attempt to provide etymologies; these can be found in etymological dictionaries.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Collective nouns", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki