Collective noun

Collective nouns (also known as terms of venery or nouns of assemblage) in English are subject-specific words used to define a grouping of people, animals, objects or concepts. For example, in the phrase "a parliament of owls", parliament is a collective noun.

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English - A parliament of owls

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Such nouns are not compulsory, and are in general not widely used. A parliament of owls could equally well be referred to as "a group of owls", "a bunch of owls", "a number of owls", "some owls", etc.

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The exact definition of a genuine collective noun is debatable. Some people say that words like "set" or "flock", which are not subject-specific, are also collective nouns.

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