group

American  

[groop] / grup /

noun

• groups
  plural

1. any collection or assemblage of persons or things; cluster; aggregation.

   a group of protesters; a remarkable group of paintings.

2. a number of persons or things ranged or considered together as being related in some way.

3. Also called radical.  Chemistry. two or more atoms specifically arranged, as the hydroxyl group, –OH.

4. Linguistics.

   1. (in the classification of related languages within a family) a category of a lower order than a subbranch and of a higher order than a subgroup.

      the Low German group of West Germanic languages.

   2. any grouping of languages, whether it is made on the basis of geography, genetic relationship, or something else.

5. Geology. a division of stratified rocks comprising two or more formations.

6. Military.

   1. Army. a flexible administrative and tactical unit consisting of two or more battalions and a headquarters.

   2. Air Force. an administrative and operational unit subordinate to a wing, usually composed of two or more squadrons.

7. Music. a section of an orchestra comprising the instruments of the same class.

8. Art. a number of figures or objects shown in an arrangement together.

9. Mathematics. an algebraic system that is closed under an associative operation, as multiplication or addition, and in which there is an identity element that, on operating on another element, leaves the second element unchanged, and in which each element has corresponding to it a unique element that, on operating on the first, results in the identity element.

10. Grammar (chiefly British). a phrase.

    nominal group; verbal group.

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verb (used with object)

• groups,
  present (3rd person singular)
• grouped,
  past participle,  past
• grouping
  present participle

1. to place or associate together in a group, as with others.

2. to arrange in or form into a group or groups.

   Synonyms:

   combine, classify, organize, order

verb (used without object)

• groups,
  present (3rd person singular)
• grouped,
  past participle,  past
• grouping
  present participle

1. to form a group.

2. to be part of a group.

group British  

/ ɡruːp /

noun

1. a number of persons or things considered as a collective unit

2. 1. a number of persons bound together by common social standards, interests, etc

   2. ( as modifier )

      group behaviour

3. a small band of players or singers, esp of pop music

4. a number of animals or plants considered as a unit because of common characteristics, habits, etc

5. grammar another word, esp in systemic grammar, for phrase

6. an association of companies under a single ownership and control, consisting of a holding company, subsidiary companies, and sometimes associated companies

7. two or more figures or objects forming a design or unit in a design, in a painting or sculpture

8. a military formation comprising complementary arms and services, usually for a purpose

   a brigade group

9. an air force organization of higher level than a squadron

10. Also called: radical.  chem two or more atoms that are bound together in a molecule and behave as a single unit Compare free radical

    a methyl group -CH3

11. a vertical column of elements in the periodic table that all have similar electronic structures, properties, and valencies Compare period

12. geology any stratigraphical unit, esp the unit for two or more formations

13. maths a set that has an associated operation that combines any two members of the set to give another member and that also contains an identity element and an inverse for each element

14. See blood group

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verb

1. to arrange or place (things, people, etc) in or into a group or (of things, etc) to form into a group

group Scientific  

/ gro̅o̅p /

1. Chemistry

   1. Two or more atoms that are bound together and act as a unit in a number of chemical compounds, such as a hydroxyl (OH) group.

   2. In the Periodic Table, a vertical column that contains elements having the same number of electrons in the outermost shell of their atoms. Elements in the same group have similar chemical properties.

2. Mathematics A set with an operation whose domain is all ordered pairs of members of the set, such that the operation is binary (operates on two elements) and associative, the set contains the identity element of the operation, and each element of the set has an inverse element for the operation. The positive and negative integers and zero form a set that is a group under the operation of ordinary addition, since zero is the identity element of addition and the negative of each integer is its inverse. Groups are used extensively in quantum physics and chemistry to model phenomena involving symmetry and invariance.

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Grammar

See collective noun.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• supergroup
  noun
• ungrouped
  adjective
• groupwise
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• groups
  plural

Participles

• grouping
  present
• grouped
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• group
  simple
• groups
  simple
• have grouped
  perfect
• has grouped
  perfect
• am grouping
  progressive
• are grouping
  progressive
• is grouping
  progressive
• have been grouping
  perfect progressive
• has been grouping
  perfect progressive

Past

• grouped
  simple
• had grouped
  perfect
• was grouping
  progressive
• were grouping
  progressive
• had been grouping
  perfect progressive

Future

• will group
  simple
• will have grouped
  perfect
• will be grouping
  progressive
• will have been grouping
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of group

First recorded in 1665–75; from French groupe, from Italian gruppo, ultimately from Germanic

Explanation

A group is an organization of people or things, like a reading group at a public library that holds book discussions every month. Group comes from the word for lump, or cluster. If you're out walking at night and see a group of wild dogs coming at you, best to go the other way. You could always find a group of people to walk with if you don't want to be alone. Group can also be used as a verb. If you're painting a still life, you might collect a bunch of objects from your house and group them together in an eye-pleasing arrangement.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

group groups grouped grouping

You can blame that in part on experience, Boockvar said—this group remembers a number of other Cassandras who got wiped out for calling the top too early.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 23, 2026

While he was searching for a missing goat he encountered a group of women panning along a riverbed.

From BBC ● Aug. 22, 2026

They next applied the clock to a separate group of 144 people to estimate each person's 'brain age'.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 22, 2026

Kent later said the group was attempting to build a new anti-war political movement and had encouraged Carlson to run for president in 2028.

From Salon ● Aug. 22, 2026

The discordant song about Clare began again, led by the largest boy in the group.

From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman

Anne works for one of the groups and described messages as "coming in as fast as people could pick them up".

From BBC ● Aug. 22, 2026

"One striking finding was the large survival difference between the groups: patients with more natural teeth survived nearly two years longer than those with fewer teeth," Uemura says.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 22, 2026

You could argue that an informant has to participate to some degree in order to stay inside these groups.

From Slate ● Aug. 22, 2026

Consumer groups heard all of these companies bemoan how tariffs on China and other Asian countries, in particular, meant they would have no choice but to raise prices.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 22, 2026

As the boys ran off with the thieved chocolate, Danny zipped his backpack shut again and ate his lunch in silence while the other kids sat in groups.

From "The Way to Rio Luna" by Zoraida Cordova

Cummins this spring said it plans to offer new larger generators starting in 2028 that can be grouped at data centers as a primary power source.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 15, 2026

The daily analysis has evolved over the years to encompass “common suppliers, common customers,” and even ”which stocks are grouped together in passive vehicles,” McNerney said.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 12, 2026

Another is that grouped sperm help transport important molecules to particular locations.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 6, 2026

Photographers will now be grouped in a huddle closer to the halfway line - allowing an unobstructed view for the coaching staff.

From BBC ● Jun. 18, 2026

The voice cut through the commotion, and Moss squinted as he watched a woman with short blond hair squeeze past people grouped in the aisles.

From "Anger Is a Gift" by Mark Oshiro

Modern taxonomy, the science of naming and classifying organisms, increasingly attempts to reflect actual evolutionary relationships by grouping species according to shared ancestry.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 20, 2026

Newyddion S4C understands Edwards' attempt fell far short of winning the competition, with his poem placed in the third grouping of entries - a system used by the judging panel to rank entries.

From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2026

Magnificent Seven as a group is underperforming the broader market this year, but strategists at Citi argue it’s no longer a grouping that even makes sense to think about it.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026

It wouldn’t be the first grouping to quietly disappear.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 20, 2026

At the sight of the new workers, the remaining strikers began clamoring in protest and grouping forward.

From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros

Related Words

• association
• band
• body
• class
• club
• company
• crowd
• faction
• gang
• organization
• party
• society
• troop