[identity profile] prettygoodword.livejournal.com posting in [community profile] 1word1day
congeries (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.
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