It was marked by an extensive proliferation of specialist vocabulary, applying different names to the same feature in different animals. The fashion of a consciously developed hunting language came to England from France. "The tradition of using "terms of venery" or "nouns of assembly," collective nouns that are specific to certain kinds of animals, stems from an English hunting tradition of the Late Middle Ages. Continuing farther down the page of Collective Nouns, we read: But let's drill down a bit on that term ("venery"). I'd heard that term before, but couldn't recall it without looking at that page. Other examples come from popular culture such as a group of owls, which is called a "parliament." For example, "pride" as a term of venery always refers to lions, never to dogs or cows. Some collective nouns are specific to one kind of thing, especially terms of venery, which identify groups of specific animals. Leads to a bunch of great resources, including the inevitable Wikipedia page, List of Animal Names.īut if you look at the Wikipedia page for Collective Nouns, you'll learn that This also includes collective nouns for animals: pod, swarm, flock, etc.īut for this Challenge, what's the specific term for the collective noun of particular kinds of animals? (Which, btw, is never used with the indefinite article! You wouldn't say "a luggage" or "a happiness.")īy contrast, the term for a collection of arbitrary things is a collective noun, words like crew, team, committee, or pack. If you've got a collection of things that are not meaningfully divisible, such as luggage or happiness, then that's a mass noun. In this case I happen to know the term for a collection of somethings. What are these kinds of terms called? (That is, what do you call words that denote a specific name for a group of a particular kind of animal, such as as "pack" of wolves.) What's THAT called? (Once you know this term, perhaps it will be simpler to figure this out. Such questions the enquiring mind wants to know! So, today, a fairly straightforward couple of questions that will open your mind to running down the true origins of words.ġ. But are they, really? Or are they simply made up by someone as a kind of joke? they're all supposed to be names for groups of animals.
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