collective noun
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English
Noun
collective noun (plural collective nouns)
- (grammar) A noun which, though singular, refers to a group of things or animals. Examples: a school of fish, a pride of lions.
- 1775, John Ash, The New and Complete Dictionary of the English Language, volume 1, London: Edward and Charles Dilly in the Poultry; and R. Baldwin in Pater-Noster Row, →OCLC, page 23:
- A hundred, a thousand, few, many, are to be considered as collective nouns, and distinguished as such, by the singular article.
Synonyms
Hyponyms
- term of venery (animals)
Translations
noun referring to a group of similar things
See also
References
- “collective noun”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.