congeries

American  

[kon-jeer-eez, kon-juh-reez] / kɒnˈdʒɪər iz, ˈkɒn dʒə riz /

noun

(used with a singular or plural verb)

1. a collection of items or parts in one mass; assemblage; aggregation, heap.

   From the airplane the town resembled a congeries of tiny boxes.

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congeries British  

/ kɒnˈdʒɪəriːz /

noun

1. (functioning as singular or plural) a collection of objects or ideas; mass; heap

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Etymology

Origin of congeries

First recorded in 1610–20; from Latin: “a heap, pile, collection,” equivalent to conger- (stem of congerere “to collect, heap up,” equivalent to con-, combining form + gerere “to bear, carry”) + -iēs abstract noun suffix; con-

Example Sentences

My own are his pansy collages, tightly packed, edge-to-edge congeries of overlapping floral faces that give off a bright radiance as well as well as a sense of menacing, staring eyes.

From New York Times • Nov. 16, 2022

The sixties may be just another decade, but The Sixties are something more – a mood, a state of mind, a way of life, a congeries of sounds and images.

From The Guardian • Apr. 15, 2018

Though Spencer came up with the term, it has come to define a broader congeries of reaction.

From Slate • Aug. 25, 2016

Twitter became a weird congeries of protest updates and jokes about Smee.

From The New Yorker • Dec. 5, 2014

I do not consider them entrancingly picturesque; they form the northern entrances to the Albaicin quarter, which is now a perplexing congeries of squalid houses, formless convents, and churches tottering to their fall.

From Southern Spain by Calvert, A. F. (Albert Frederick)