Parliament of owls (photo from pinterest)
Congregation of plovers (image from caribbeanbirdingtrail.org)
Deceit of lapwings (photo from pinterest)
Shrewdness of apes (image from pinterest)
Chattering of choughs (image from pinterest)
Murder of crows (image from pinterest)
A sedge of bitterns (image from pinterest)
Ostentation of peacocks (image from Treknature.com)
Hello everyone! This is an unusual post as it is not about the exploration of one word but of a group of terms that many of us use everyday. Collective nouns are words that are used to describe a collection of people, animals, or things. You are likely familiar with collective nouns such as a “herd” of horses or a “pride” of lions, but there are some collective nouns that are uncommon and rarely used. Terms such as “murmuration of starlings” and “chattering of choughs” are quite possibly the most poetic and colorful aspects of the English language, in my opinion.
Many collective nouns that we use today can be traced back to The Book of St. Albans printed in 1486. This book covered matters related to gentlemanly pursuits namely hawking, hunting, and heraldry; it also included a large list of collective nouns for animals. This book became very popular and was re-printed many times throughout the sixteenth century for it was essential and necessary for a medieval gentleman to know the appropriate terms for animals to indicate that he was well educated and adept at hunting.
Terms of venery are essentially collective nouns. The word venery comes from the Latin word venari, which means to hunt so terms of venery refer to hunting or animals that are hunted. Many of the terms in The Book of St. Albans refer to game animals, however, the book also included terms related to life and people.
Browse the pictures in the gallery for terms of venery included in The Book of St. Albans that are still in use today, albeit rarely.
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