As we went for coffee this morning, my curious co-worker, Kathryn, told me that there is a name for words that refer to a group of something, like a “gaggle of geese.” They are generally referred to as collective nouns, but more specifically, she was talking about “terms of venery.” (Thanks, Kat!)
A brief history from Wikipedia (even briefer with some editing):
The tradition of using "terms of venery" or "nouns of assembly” stems from an English hunting tradition of the Late Middle Ages. The fashion of a consciously developed hunting language came to England from France. It is marked by an extensive proliferation of specialist vocabulary, applying different names to the same feature in different animals.
The following list was compiled by English Club (http://www.englishclub.com/vocabulary/animal-terms.htm) and not only includes the terms of venery, but the terms for male, female, and young specimens of the animal. These are common animals. For a broader list of terms of venery, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_collective_nouns.
| Animal | Male | Female | Young | Collective term (terms of venery) |
| ant | winged male, aner | queen, worker | antling | a colony of ants, an army of ants |
| bat | male | female | pup | a cloud of bats, a colony of bats |
| bear | boar | sow | cub | a sleuth of bears, a sloth of bears |
| bee | drone | queen, worker | larva, schadon, fry (plural noun) | a hive of bees, a swarm of bees |
| bird | cock | hen | nestling, fledgling | a flock of birds, a flight of birds (in the air) |
| buffalo | bull | cow | calf | a herd of buffalo |
| cat | tom | queen | kitten | a clutter of cats |
| chicken | rooster | hen | chick | a brood of chickens, a flock of chickens |
| cow | bull | cow | calf | a herd of cattle |
| dog | dog | bitch | puppy, pup | a pack of dogs |
| dolphin | bull | cow | pup | a school of dolphins |
| duck | drake | duck | duckling | a raft of ducks |
| elephant | bull | cow | calf | a herd of elephants |
| fish | male | female | fry (plural noun) | a school of fish |
| fox | dog, reynard | vixen | cub | a troop of foxes, an earth of foxes |
| frog | male | female | tadpole, froglet | an army of frogs, a colony of frogs |
| goose | gander | goose | gosling | a flock of geese, a gaggle of geese |
| goat | billy (domestic) | nanny | kid | a flock of goats, a herd of goats |
| horse | stallion, colt (young) | mare, filly (young) | foal | a herd of horses, a team of horses (in harness), a string of horses (for racing) |
| kangaroo | buck | doe | joey | a mob of kangaroos, a troop of kangaroos |
| lion | lion | lioness | cub | a pride of lions |
| monkey | male | female | infant | a troop of monkeys |
| owl | male | female | owlet | a parliament of owls |
| ox | bull, steer (castrated) | cow | calf | a herd of oxen, a drove of oxen (when driven in a group), a team of oxen (in harness) |
| penguin | male | female | chick | a colony of penguins |
| person | man | woman | baby, infant | a crowd of people |
| pig | boar | sow | suckling, piglet | a herd of pigs, a flock of pigs |
| rabbit | buck | roe | bunny, bunny rabbit | a colony of rabbits, a nest of rabbits, a warren of rabbits (strictly, where they live) |
| sheep | ram | ewe | lamb | a flock of sheep |
| tiger | tiger | tigress | cub, whelp | a streak of tigers |
| whale | bull | cow | calf | a school of whales, a shoal of whales, a pod of whales (smaller groups) |
| wolf | dog | bitch | cub | a pack of wolves, a herd of wolves |
| zebra | stallion | mare | foal | a cohort of zebra, a herd of zebra |
Kara Church
Senior Technical Editor
Editor's Corner 
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