Bunch

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /bʌntʃ/

Definitions

1. A cluster of items, often identical or similar, collectively grouped for convenience
2. Several objects or units collected closely in one place ; a compact assembly of individuals or items positioned near each other ; the curled position or grasp made by fingers or a hand
3. Multiple similar elements arranged as a single unit ; a small, dense gathering of entities ; the clenched form of the hand or part of the body used to hold or seize

Etymology: The most surprising thing about "bunch" is that its earliest sense was bodily, not collective: Middle English "bunche" meant a hump or swelling, the kind of lump on a body. The group sense developed later from the idea of something thick and clumped together, so a bunch of grapes or flowers is named for the same bulging mass rather than for any count of individuals. Its ultimate origin is uncertain. One theory links it to a Proto-Germanic word for "heap" or "crowd," which in turn connects to an ancient Indo-European root meaning "thick" or "dense." Relatives of this root appear in Dutch "bonk" (lump), Low German "Bunk" (bone), and Danish "bunke" (heap, pile), and also in Ancient Greek "pakhús" (thick), a distant cousin shared across many languages. Other scholars suggest "bunch" may simply be a variant of "bump," following the pattern of "hump" and "hunch" or "lump" and "lunch," or perhaps descends from a dialect French word "bonge" meaning "bundle," itself borrowed from a Flemish diminutive. The evidence does not settle which account is correct.

Synonyms: cluster, bundle, group, collection, clump

Antonyms: individual, single, solitary, one, singleton