collective noun
1
4.1
- noun
- /kəˈlɛktɪv naʊn/
- Specialized
:
sustantivo colectivo
- A collective noun like 'team' refers to a group working together towards a common goal.
Examples
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In American English, a singular collective noun normally takes a singular verb.
Blog text (7) -
Should one use singular or plural verbs in relation to collective nouns?
Blog text (7) -
Otherkin is a collective noun for an assortment of people who have come to the somewhat unorthodox and possibly quite bizarre conclusion that they identify themselves as being something other than human.
Blog text (29) -
In fact, the idea that the category of "opposition" could be used as a collective noun to refer to such a set of weak, diverse, and fragmented organizations would scarcely have occurred to anyone active on the Hungarian political scene.
Academic text (1991) -
In English, the collective noun 'flock' describes a group of birds flying together.
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The collective noun for a group of lions is called a 'pride,' highlighting their social structure.
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly and compositionally derived from 'collective' (pertaining to a group) modifying 'noun' (a word), so a learner can infer it refers to a word for a group of people or things. This simple adjective+noun construction is a regular, cross-linguistic pattern and should be immediately understandable to a B1 learner who knows both constituents.
Etymology
Collective noun is a single word that stands for a whole group. Think of a team shirt with one name that represents all the players, so a collective noun names a 'group' while staying 'singular'.