grex
From Proto-Italic *greks, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ger- (“to assemble, gather together”) (though de Vaan prefers to reconstruct the Proto-Italic as *gʷreg-, and the Proto-Indo-European as *gʷreg- (“group, herd”)).[1] Cognates include Lithuanian gurguole (“mass, crowd”) and gurgulys (“chaos, confusion”), Old Church Slavonic гръсть (grŭstĭ, “handful”), Welsh gre (“herd”), Ancient Greek γάργαρα (gárgara, “heaps, lots (of people, etc.)”), Khotanese [script needed] (haṃ-grīs, “to gather, assemble”).
Pronunciation
- (Classical) IPA(key): /ɡreks/, [ɡrɛks̠]
- (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /ɡreks/, [ɡrɛks]
Noun
grex m (genitive gregis); third declension
- (zoology) a group of smaller animals: a flock (of birds, sheep, etc.), a pack (of dogs, wolves, etc.), a swarm (of insects), etc.
- (figurative) a similar group of other things [ synonyms ▲]
- a group of people: a crowd, a clique, a company, a band, a troop, etc. [ synonyms ▲]
- (sports) a team of charioteers.
- (theater) a troupe of actors.
Usage notes
Properly, a herd or drove of larger animals form a pecus n, a iumentum (when pulling carts), or an armenta (when pulling a plow), while smaller animals—especially domesticated pecudēs—form a grex. Its use for people is not necessarily pejorative in the way pecus is.
Declension
Third-declension noun.
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | grex | gregēs |
| Genitive | gregis | gregum |
| Dative | gregī | gregibus |
| Accusative | gregem | gregēs |
| Ablative | grege | gregibus |
| Vocative | grex | gregēs |