Collective nouns are used to describe a group or collection of individuals. This includes groups of people, animals and inanimate objects.
They have developed throughout the history of the English language, with new collective nouns still being created, although time will tell if these latest additions will survive (think “a hood of bro’s”, “a array of geeks”).
Many of the collective nouns for animals were developed by the British upper classes in the medieval period to serve the dual purposes of helping with hunting and to differentiate themselves from the working classes.
Below are some examples of collective nouns:
People
- A crowd of people
- A class of students
- An orchestra of musicians.
View more collective nouns for people.
Animals
- A flock of sheep
- A murder of crows
- A colony of ants.
Browse more collective nouns for animals.
Objects
- A bunch of flowers
- A belt of asteroids
- A quiver of arrows
Get more collective nouns for objects.
Collective nouns are considered one of the ‘oddities’ of the English language, with a large amount of terms used. Some of these a pretty unusual, such as:
- A parliament of owls
- A smack of jellyfish
- A cowardice of curs
This site contains a full list of collective nouns for you to browse.
For a more detailed definition on using collective nouns, see the ‘what is a collective noun‘ page. This includes a look at using singular or plural verbs, as well as the difference between American and British use and some of the rules when using collective nouns.
For further examples on how to use collective nouns, see the ‘examples of collective nouns‘ page.
People
A crowd of people
a class of students
an orchestra musicians
Explain in detail about the colllective noun. What is the different between collective noun and compound noun? .
really helped with my son thanks
pls l want the a – z of collective nouns.
Is there any collective noun that starts with:
The meeting
Very nice and use full site for collective nouns.
Collective nouns
People worshipping together are called ______ .
Congregation?
It really helps to solve my brothers home work
please i want to know about the collective nouns
my name is w.zipporah anita licy. my english teacher appriciated me. i felt happy at that moment thank you.
you should improve your spelling
what is the collective noun for Indians
It help me with my son thx
Pls add more collective nouns i have been searching collective nouns for so long but all are rubbish.
P.S not this one though but pls add more.
should add more examples
A parliament of owls.
An absence of waiters.
What about a ‘class of students’?
A murder of crows!!!
Hi
It will be very helpful for children as well elders.
hi,
It is really for children to learn about collective nouns.