grex

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈɡrɛks]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈɡrɛks]^[1]

Forms

grex m (genitive gregis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It goes back to Proto-Italic *gʷreg-, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *gʷreg- (“group, herd”).^[2][1] De Vaan connects Khotanese haṃ-grīs- (“to gather”) and, with a reduplicated variant, Ancient Greek γάργαρα (gárgara, “heaps, crowds”) and Lithuanian gurguolė (“heap”);^[2] Beekes takes the Greek and Lithuanian words as independent imitative formations.^[1] Others start from Proto-Indo-European *ger- (“to gather”), as Pokorny and Köbler do, and the OLD compares Ancient Greek ἀγείρω (ageírō, “to gather”).^[3][4][5] Old Irish graig (“herd of horses”) and Welsh gre (“herd”) are probably borrowed from Latin, according to de Vaan.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is attested from Plautus onwards.^[2][4] In the Trinummus a wolf tries to drive off a whole flock.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The word meant a flock or herd of animals, often sheep, and also a litter or brood, and poets used it for a cluster of stars.^[5][6] Of people it meant a band or company, a crowd, and with contempt the common herd.^[5] It also meant a circle of friends, a troupe of actors, a faction in the Circus, and a social class.^[5]

Christian writers used it for the flock of the faithful, and medieval writers also for a religious community.^[7][8] Its derivatives gregarius, egregius and congregare gave English gregarious, English egregious and English congregate.^[2][9]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it for a flock and for a troupe of actors.^[5][4]
• 190–159 BC – Terence uses it for a circle of friends.^[5][4]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero writes of herds of cattle and bands of desperate men.^[5][4]
• 390–406 AD – The Vulgate uses it for the flock of believers.^[7][4]
• Middle Ages – It means a religious community.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. A flock, herd; a litter or brood; a group of stars.^[5][6]
2. A band, company of people; a crowd; the common herd.^[5]
3. A circle of friends, a set.^[5]
4. A troupe of actors.^[5]
5. A faction in the Circus.^[5]
6. (Ecclesiastical Latin) The flock of the faithful, a congregation.^[7][8]
7. (Medieval Latin) A religious community, chapter.^[8]

Word family

• congrex
• ēgregius
• gregālis
• gregārius
• sēgrex
• gregātim

Related words

• gregō
• English gregarious
• English egregious
• English congregate

Usage notes

It is usually masculine, but Lucretius and some inscriptions use it as a feminine.^[5]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
3. ^ Pokorny, Julius (1959), Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Bern; Munich: Francke
4. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
8. ^ a b c d Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
9. ^ Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com