Who invented collective nouns?

Answer 1

Everyday people 'invented' collective nouns. Collective nouns came into language naturally as a way of describing a group of two or more people or things.

For example, 'a herd of horses' is a large group of horses, while 'a stable of horses' is a group of specially bred horses.

The collective noun 'a tribe of monkeys' describes an extended family of monkeys in their natural habitat while a 'barrel of monkeys' describes nonsensical behavior of a group of monkeys or people behaving like monkeys.

In addition to the type of group or the behavior of a group of animals, people in different places may have described a group or a behavior in different ways, creating several different collective nouns for groups of the same animals.

Answer 2

A collective noun is a word used to group people or things taken together as one whole in a descriptive way. Collective nouns are an informal part of language. A collective noun is a is a function of a noun, not a form of a noun.

The origins of using descriptive language date back before history records its origin. People have always used language to express ideas, to communicate, and like adjective or adverbs, collective nouns are a way of describing something.