congeries

Congeries is a noun meaning a large, disorderly collection or heap of things; an aggregate or heterogeneous assemblage. It is often used to describe a mass of items lacking a deliberate arrangement, as when a scholar refers to a congeries of artifacts or a congeries of manuscripts. In general, congeries emphasizes variety and disarray more than completeness or coherence.

The term derives from Latin congerere “to bring together,” through French congeries. In English it has appeared since the early modern period and retains a formal, sometimes archaic tone.

Usage and nuance: Congeries is more common in academic or literary prose than in everyday speech. It can portray abundance or accumulation in natural history, archaeology, bibliography, philosophy, or descriptive writing. It contrasts with more orderly terms like assemblage or collection, which imply some organization; congeries implies a haphazard or sprawling mass.

Examples of context: a congeries of rocks described in a field report; a congeries of laws in a legal treatise; a congeries of ideas in a treatise on metaphysics.

See also: miscellany, aggregation, assemblage, heap, potpourri.