Congregation definition and meaning collins english. Learn collective nouns for insects and other groups of animals. We have identified the following words that you could call a group of alligators. This word lets the reader know that there is a group of musicians that played the song beautifully.
For example, a group of ships is called a fleet, a group of cows is called a herd. Set your browser to full screen and zoom out to show as many columns as possible. Jul 07, 2015 a congregation of alligators, crocodiles, or plovers crocodiles and alligators, both reptilian predators, are social animals and tend to group together. The table below shows a long list of collective nouns used in english. The collective noun for alligators is the word you would use to describe a group of alligators. Collective nouns denote groups of people, animals, objects, concepts, or ideas as a single entity. Fans of collective nouns are familiar with an exaltation of larks, which was the title of a book by james lipton on collective nouns. A collective noun looks singular, but it can be treated as singular or plural depending on whether the word refers to the group as a single entity or to its members as individuals. Collective nouns collective nouns take a singular form but are composed of more than one individual person or item group, jury, team, class, committee, herd. A collective noun is used to denote a group of persons, animals, places, things, or ideas. Gmat prep verbal sentence correction collective nouns and generic nouns as subjects subjectverb agreement can be tricky when the subject of our sentence is a collective noun for a generic noun. Aug 25, 2008 congregation can be a collective noun, in which case it takes the singular, or be seen as representing a group of individuals, in which case it takes the plural. Most members of the congregation begin arriving a few minutes before services. Collective nouns are used to refer to a group and, as with other nouns, may include people, places, ideas, or things.
Using collective nouns in sentences can be confusing because at times its difficult to differentiate whether to use plural or. Collective nouns are nouns that refer to a collection or group of multiple people, animals, or things. This is a listing of every animal congregation i could find after. For many animals, particularly domesticated ones, there are specific names for males. Words like group, regiment, and furniture are collective noun examples. Collective noun is a name used for a group of people, animals or objects that we. Not only do we learn something about church from the definitions and a consideration of its two spiritual usages universal and local church, we are also enlightened when we consider the fact. This post titled, list of collective nouns for fish, reptiles and amphibians, contains the different collective nouns that we use for various types of fish, reptiles and amphibians.
As you can see, you simply substitute the word group with one of the collective nouns on our list above when describing a group of starlings. A pride of lions, a murder of crows, a crash of rhinos, and every other collective noun for animals. What is the noun for the collective noun congregation answers. But this particular collective noun goes back to the 15th century, and comes from one of the most famous books on collective nouns in print. For example, a group of ships is called a fleet, a group of cows is called a herd, a groupd of lions is called a pride, a group of baseball players is called a team, and a group of ants is called a colony. Here, well take a closer look at collective nouns, and provide even more examples, placing them in context so you can gain a greater understanding of how they work. What is the noun for the collective noun congregation.
This is a type of noun that we see very often in the language and it is important that you are aware of how they function within a sentence. See if you like them and share your personal favourites in the comments if our designer gets the time, she might just create a new illustration for you a bike of bees. Nouns like jury, committee, or group are collective nouns. The definition of a congregation is a gathering of people, or people who share the same faith and habitually attend the same church. Many of the collective nouns for people are based around occupations and professions, while others are based of family, gender, nationality and other areas. Collective nouns list in english english study here. Using collective nouns in sentences can be confusing because at times its difficult to differentiate whether to use plural or singular verbs and pronouns. This list of collective nouns for animals also called collective terms and terms of venery can never be definitive but it is fun. Did you know the collective noun for butlers is a sneer of butlers. Collective nouns, or group nouns, are nouns such as family, government, class or committee, which refer to groups of people or things.
Often, they are followed by a prepositional phrase specifying what they are composed of. Collective nouns should not be confused with mass nouns. Wikipedia has a more complete and scholarly list of names here. This is a type of noun that we see very often in the language and it is important that you are aware of how they. Well, the most common collective nouns for any group of birds are flock or flight. Collective nouns for people collective group names for. The word congregation is an example of an proper, compound, abstract, or collective noun. If you are looking to name a group of things whilst speaking or writing in the english language, you are going to need to use a collective noun. May 29, 2019 collective nouns are names for a collection or a number of people or things. Definition of congregation noun in oxford advanced learners dictionary. Adducations list of collective nouns for birds also includes the individual baby names, males and females and plural for each bird species. A group of plovers is also known as a congregation, but plovers are not reptiles. As you can see, you simply substitute the word group with one of the collective nouns on our list above when describing a group of alligators.
Apr 22, 2017 collective nouns for animal groups congregation, nest, army, pace, troop, cete, sloth, herd, gulp and etc follow the list for collective noun list and example sentences. Dec 14, 2015 the noun congregation is a standard collective noun for. Collective nouns in english and how to use them collective nouns singular or plural. List 3 collective nouns list 1 singular and plural nouns. This sentence contains the collective noun orchestra. Collective noun for sardines is a family of sardines we love this one because it calls to mind images of a nuclear family of small fish. Some you are familiar with while others sound unfamiliar. The collective noun congregation is a singular, common, concrete, noun. Information and translations of congregation in the most comprehensive dictionary definitions resource on the web. Were not sure of the origin of this collective noun though we think it could be related to the tincan they end up in.
The large fish swam as fast as possible from the congregation of alligators. The way we determine in which manner the collective noun. Congregation definition and meaning collins english dictionary. Did you know the first list of collective nouns was published in the book of st albans circa 1500 and it wasnt definitive it was based on folklore, humor and the whim of the publisher and its. Here is most important collective nouns related to persons, animals and things. Most collective nouns in everyday speech are not specific to one kind of thing, such as the word group, which can be applied to people a group of people or dogs a group of dogs or other things. Discover a collective noun for a group of alligators. Collective nouns for fish, reptiles and amphibians akademia. Meaning, pronunciation, picture, example sentences, grammar, usage notes, synonyms and more. For many animals, particularly domesticated ones, there are specific names for males, females, young, and groups the bestknown source of many english words used for collective groupings of animals is the book of saint albans, an essay on hunting published in 1486 and attributed to juliana berners.
Collective nouns for people collective group names for people. Click column headings with arrows to sort collective nouns for birds. This is a listing of every animal congregation i could find after scouring the web. A collective noun refers to pluralonly words such as cattle for cows and people for person. One of the collective nouns for a group of alligators is a congregation. Congregation dictionary definition congregation defined. Albans, dating back to 1486, was a guide to hawking and hunting, and listed many of the collective nouns for animals we still use today. In this case i see the first as being intended, so the congregation kneels down. Collective nouns for animal groups english learn site. The word congregation is unusual, in that it began as a general term and has grown more specific, whereas most collective. This page lists the collective nouns used for groups of people. Collective noun is a noun which describes a group of things oe people.
Not only do we learn something about church from the definitions and a consideration of its two spiritual usages universal and local church, we are also enlightened when we consider the fact that church and ekklesia are collective nouns. Check out these examples using congregation as a collective noun. What is the collective noun of congregation answers. The tricky thing is that, when trying to figure out how to use collective nouns, the question of whether to use a singular or plural verb form depends on whether you are writing in american or british english. Start typing in the filter table box to find specific bird terms inside the table of collective nouns for birds and poultry. Less common nouns are pod, congregation, dissimulation, or volery. In linguistics, a collective noun is a collection of things taken as a whole. Youll probably with common terms such as crowd or team but what group could wheeze possible refer to. For some animals, there is more than one collective noun, reflecting how close people have been to them througout history. Why the collective noun cowardice is used to describe a group or gathering of them is puzzling to me.
No, the collective noun for worshipers in church are a congregation of worshipers, an assembly of worshipers, a gathering of worshipers. A gathering of faithful in a temple, church, synagogue, mosque or other place of worship. Some examples of collective nouns include the words group, congregation, committee, pack, public, minority, audience, jury, and band. Use our list to learn about collective nouns for people. Glossary of collective nouns by collective term wiktionary. Collective nouns are words that, although treated as singular, describe a group of people, places, things or ideas. The of the british royal navy was very strong in the nineteenth. Congregation definition of congregation by merriamwebster. List of collective nouns wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. List of collective nouns by collective noun armada of ships army of caterpillars, frogs, soldiers bank of circuits battery of tests bed of clams, snakes belt of asteroids bevy of beauties bouquet of flowers brood of hens caravan of camels cete of badgers chain of islands clan of hyenas class of students cloud of gnats clowder of cats. Note that many of these terms are humorous and appear only in word lists.
The noun congregation is a standard collective noun for. A collective noun is a word for a group of specific items, animals or people. Some of these terms are very old, while others are newer and have become accepted after growing in use. Most terms used here may be found in common dictionaries and general information web sites. So, instead of identifying a single person, animal, place, thing, or idea, a collective noun refers to a group or a collection of items. Standard terms for particular groups are listed first in each group and shown in bold. Here is most important 100 examples of collective nouns. Here is a list of collective nouns in alphabetical order. Sep 01, 2017 we continue our series with yet another type of noun.
If the collective noun team is acting altogether as a single unit, you use a singular verb. For example, the united states womens national soccer team is bound by the terms of its collective bargaining agreement with u. Introduction to collective nouns, collective noun examples. They usually function as singular nouns in a sentence. Words like group, herd, and array are collective noun examples. Collective nouns are names for a collection or a number of people or things.
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