What does "group" mean?
A number of things or persons being in some relation to one another.
Group
/ɡɹuːp/ noun, verb
noun, verb ·Top 500 ·Elementary level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A number of things or persons being in some relation to one another.
- Grammar: group is listed as noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: mathematical group, a school, academic category, accumulate.
- Useful contrasts: individual organism, individual test, individual unit.
- Usage evidence: Imagine, for the sake of argument, a tribal group in which mother-son incest was countenanced.
How to use "group"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "group" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "group" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "group" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "group" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "group" is acting as noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "mathematical group" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "group", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A number of things or persons being in some relation to one another.
"Then everybody once more knelt, and soon the blessing was pronounced. The choir and the clergy trooped out slowly, […], down the nave to the western door. […] At a seemingly immense distance the surpliced group stopped to say the last prayer."
- 2 any number of entities (members) considered as a unit wordnet
- 3 A set with an associative binary operation, under which there exists an identity element, and such that each element has an inverse.
"Throughout this section, we shall assume the existence of finitely presented groups with unsolvable word problem."
- 4 a set that is closed, associative, has an identity element and every element has an inverse wordnet
- 5 An effective divisor on a curve. archaic
Show 13 more definitions
- 6 (chemistry) two or more atoms bound together as a single unit and forming part of a molecule wordnet
- 7 A (usually small) group of people who perform music together.
"Did you see the new jazz group?"
- 8 A small number (up to about fifty) of galaxies that are near each other.
- 9 A column in the periodic table of chemical elements.
- 10 A functional group.
"Nitro is an electron-withdrawing group."
- 11 A subset of a culture or of a society.
- 12 An air force formation.
- 13 A collection of formations or rock strata.
- 14 A number of users with the same rights with respect to accession, modification, and execution of files, computers and peripherals.
- 15 An element of an espresso machine from which hot water pours into the portafilter.
- 16 A number of eighth, sixteenth, etc., notes joined at the stems; sometimes rather indefinitely applied to any ornament made up of a few short notes.
- 17 A set of teams playing each other in the same division, while not during the same period playing any teams that belong to other sets in the division.
"It is the third of eight matches that Spain will play in Group I, but the coach Vicente del Bosque has described it as being more akin to the first leg of a cup semi-final."
- 18 A commercial organization.
Verb
- 1 To put together to form a group. transitive
"group the dogs by hair colour"
- 2 arrange into a group or groups wordnet
- 3 To come together to form a group. intransitive
"For many people forming pods last year, finding compatible people to group with was not a cost but a goal."
- 4 form a group or group together wordnet
Synonyms
All synonymsAntonyms
Example
"Imagine, for the sake of argument, a tribal group in which mother-son incest was countenanced."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "group"?
Common synonyms include: mathematical group, a school, academic category, accumulate, accumulation, adjust.
How do you use "group" in a sentence?
Imagine, for the sake of argument, a tribal group in which mother-son incest was countenanced.
How do you pronounce "group"?
Pronounced /ɡɹuːp/.
Etymology
From French groupe (“cluster, group”), from Italian gruppo, groppo (“a knot, heap, group, bag (of money)”), from Vulgar Latin *cruppo, Renaissance Latin grupus, from Frankish *krupp, from Proto-Germanic *kruppaz (“lump, round mass, body, crop”), from Proto-Indo-European *grewb- (“to crumple, bend, crawl”). In the “group theory” sense, calqued from French groupe, a term coined by the young French mathematician Évariste Galois in 1830. Cognate with German Kropf (“crop, craw, bunch”); Old English cropp, croppa (“cluster, bunch, sprout, flower, berry, ear of corn, crop”) (whence English crop); Dutch krop (“craw”), Icelandic kroppr (“hump, bunch”). Doublet of crop and croup.