covey

Meaning

Noun

1. A brood or family of partridges (family Phasianidae), which includes game birds such as grouse (tribe Tetraonini) and ptarmigans (tribe Tetraonini, genus Lagopus).
2. (broadly) A group of other birds, such as quail (superfamily Phasianoidea).
3. (broadly, figuratively) A group or party of people; also, a group or set of things.

Verb

To gather into a group.

Synonyms

group

company

flock

crowd

band

bevy

battery

🔋

set

swarm

herd

family

👪

gaggle

mob

brood

cluster

knot

🪢

block

bloc

barrel

bike

🚲

erst

business

bank

🏦

busyness

cartload

chowder

circle

⭕

clamour

cloud

☁️

club

assemblage

bury

drift

bunch

cove

corps

building

bed

🛏️

concourse

coterie

bracket

crew

comfort

colony

drove

droves

brace

exaltation

battalion

coalition

Translations

type

covata

grup

stormo

çil

takım

mec

سرب

Hecke

tipo

nidiata

tizio

👨

Schafherde

Rudel

floca

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈkʌvi/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: covei

Cognate with French: couvée

Cognate with French: couver

Cognate with Italian: covata

In summary

The noun is derived from Middle English covei, covey (“brood of partridges, covey; volley of shot; kind of gun”) [and other forms], from Old French covée (“brood (of chickens), clutch”) (modern French couvée), a noun use of the feminine past participle of cover (“to brood (an egg)”) (modern French couver), from Latin cubāre, the present active infinitive of cubō (“to lie down, recline; to incubate; to be broody”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱewb- (“to lie down”).
The verb is derived from the noun.
Cognates
French couvée (“brood (of chickens), clutch”), couver (“to brood (an egg)”)
Italian covata (“brood, clutch, covey, hatch”), covare (“to brood or incubate (an egg)”)