Thursday word: congeries
May. 12th, 2016 08:04 am![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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1word1daycongeries (kon-JEER-eez, KON-juh-reez) - n., an aggregation or collection of items as a single mass.
Despite its appearance, this is a singular mass noun. It does have a plural, for talking about a group of groups, which is spelled identically. You may also see a false singular form, congery, but this is frowned upon. But singular verb -- and on this shelf here is a congeries of origami. Adopted in the 1610s from Latin congeriēs, heap/mass/pile, from congerere, to carry together (from con- + gerere, to bear/carry) + -iēs, a nominalizing suffix (which also appears in rabies and series).
"A congeries of bubbles floated through the air."
---L.
Despite its appearance, this is a singular mass noun. It does have a plural, for talking about a group of groups, which is spelled identically. You may also see a false singular form, congery, but this is frowned upon. But singular verb -- and on this shelf here is a congeries of origami. Adopted in the 1610s from Latin congeriēs, heap/mass/pile, from congerere, to carry together (from con- + gerere, to bear/carry) + -iēs, a nominalizing suffix (which also appears in rabies and series).
"A congeries of bubbles floated through the air."
---L.
