gregarious
[ gri-gair-ee-uhs ]
/ grɪˈgɛər i əs /
adjective
fond of the company of others; sociable.
living in flocks or herds, as animals.
Botany. growing in open clusters or colonies; not matted together.
pertaining to a flock or crowd.
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Nearby words
greeting card, grefa, greg, gregale, gregarine, gregarious, gregariously, gregg, grego, gregorian, gregorian calendar
Origin of gregarious
1660–70; < Latin gregārius belonging to a flock, equivalent to greg- (stem of grex) flock + -ārius -ary
SYNONYMS FOR gregarious
Related forms
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for gregarious
British Dictionary definitions for gregarious
gregarious
/ (ɡrɪˈɡɛərɪəs) /
adjective
enjoying the company of others
(of animals) living together in herds or flocksCompare solitary (def. 6)
(of plants) growing close together but not in dense clusters
of, relating to, or characteristic of crowds or communities
Derived Formsgregariously, adverbgregariousness, noun
Word Origin for gregarious
C17: from Latin gregārius belonging to a flock, from grex flock
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for gregarious
gregarious
1660s, "living in flocks" (of animals), from Latin gregarius "pertaining to a flock; of the herd, of the common sort, common," from grex (genitive gregis) "flock, herd," reduplication of PIE root *ger- "to gather together, assemble" (cf. Greek ageirein "to assemble," agora "assembly;" Old Church Slavonic grusti "handful;" Lithuanian gurgulys "chaos, confusion," gurguole "crowd, mass"). Sense of "sociable" first recorded 1789. Related: Gregariously; gregariousness.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper