250 Words for Groups of People

. . . I started this list ages ago because I was trying to come up with a cute name for a group or club or something that was being formed at the time. I don't remember anything about the actual group, but the list I created eventually grew to be enormous.

This is just a bare-bones list. I have only included a few definitions here and there, and they are as concise as I can make them.

Most of these terms could go anywhere in a club name, but some of them only sound good at the end of a name (and some have strict legal definitions). They are: incorporated, limited, unlimited, combined, congolmerated amalgamated, associated, assembled, affiliated, aggregated, allied, collected, concerned, consolidated, delegated, federated.

The usefulness of this list is, after you have come up with the best name for your club, you can use this list to help you come up with a phrase that works out as an acronym for the name of your club. (Example: Take the name Moses; build it up into Metropolitan Organizing Strategy Enabling Strength.) (Yes, Moses is a real interfaith urban renewal organization in Detroit, Michigan.)

Here, then, is the list.


1. action

2. adjutancy

3. administration

4. affiliated, affiliation

5. agency

6. aggregated, aggregate, aggregation

7. allied, alliance

8. amalgam, amalgamated, amalgamation

9. anonymous

10. argosy. a fleet of ships.

11. aristocracy

12. arm

13. armada

14. army

15. assembled, assembly, assemblage

16. associated, association

17. authority

18. band

19. base

20. bastion

21. battalion, battery, battle group

22. bevy

23. bloc, block

24. board

25. body

26. branch

27. brotherhood, brothers, brethren, sons

28. brigade

29. bunch

30. bureau

31. business, business group

32. cabal. a secret group.

33. cabinet

34. cadre

35. cahoot

36. camp

37. campaign

38. cartel. a group of competing companies or business entities.

39. cast

40. caste

41. caucus

42. cavalry

43. century

44. chamber, chambers

45. chapter

46. choir, chorale, chorus

47. chosen

48. church

49. circle

50. clan

51. class

52. clique

53. cloister

54. club

55. cluster

56. clutch

57. coalition

58. cohort

59. collected, collection, collective

60. colony

61. column

62. combat team

63. combined, combine, combination

64. command, commandery

65. commission

66. committee

67. common interest group

68. commonweal, commonwealth

69. commune

70. communion

71. community

72. companionship

73. company

74. complement

75. concern, concerned

76. condominium, condo

77. confederated, confederate, confederation, confederacy

78. conference

79. confraternity

80. congolmerated, conglomerate, conglomeration

81. congregation

82. congress

83. consolidated, consolidation

84. consortium

85. constabulary

86. constituency

87. contingent

88. cooperating, cooperation, cooperative, co-op, coop

89. copartnership

90. corporation

91. corps

92. coterie

93. council

94. court

95. crew

96. crowd

97. cult

98. delegated, delegate, delegation

99. den. Boy Scout term for local group.

100. denomination

101. department

102. deputation

103. detachment

104. detail

105. directorate

106. division

107. duo, duet. group of two.

108. echelon

109. electorate

110. elite

111. ensemblage, ensemble

112. entourage

113. escadrille. a group of aircraft.

114. establishment

115. exchange

116. extended family

117. faction

118. family

119. fathers, brothers, brotherhood, brethren, sons

120. federated, federacy, federation

121. fellowship

122. file, rank and file

123. firm

124. fleet

125. flight

126. flock

127. flotilla. a fleet of ships.

128. force

129. formation

130. forum

131. foundation

132. fraternity, frat

133. friends

134. fringe

135. gaggle

136. gang

137. garrison

138. genos. ancient Athenian term for a clan.

139. genus. a group of species with many common characteristics.

140. government

141. grand jury

142. group

143. guild

144. harem. a group of wives in one household with one husband.

145. horde

146. house

147. incorporated, incorporation

148. infantry

149. institute, institution

150. interest group

151. jamboree. Boy Scout term for a large combined gathering.

152. joint concern

153. junket

154. junta. a military government.

155. junto. a club.

156. jury, grand jury, petit jury

157. kaper group. Girl Scout term for small group assigned to do chores together.

158. kingdom

159. knights

160. knot

161. league

162. legion

163. legislature

164. limited

165. local

166. lodge

167. lunatic fringe

168. maniple. an ancient Roman military division.

169. meeting

170. ministry

171. mission

172. mob

173. moiety. a subdivision of a tribe.

174. mothers, daughters, sisters, sisterhood

175. nation, national, nationality

176. neighborhood

177. nonet. a group of nine.

180. nuclear family

181. obe. ancient Athenian term for a village and the people who inhabit it.

182. octet. a group of eight.

183. orchestra

184. order

185. organizing, organized, organization

186. outfit

187. outpost

188. pack. Boy Scout term for a group of dens.

189. pair. a group of two.

190. panel

191. parliament

192. partnership

193. party

194. patrol

195. petit jury

196. phalanx. a tactical formation of a military unit.

197. phraty. a group of related tribes or clans.

198. phylum. biological term for one of the main divisions of species.

199. platoon

200. pocket

201. posse

202. post

203. quartet. a group of four.

204. quintet. a group of five.

205. rabble

206. race

207. rally

208. rank, rank and file

209. regiment

210. religion

211. ring

212. secretariat

213. sect

214. section

215. senate

216. sept. 1. a subdivision of a clan; 2. one family within a clan.

217. septet. a goup of seven.

218. seraglio. 1. a harem; 2. the residence of a harem.

219. set

220. sextet, sestet. a group of six.

221. side

222. sisterhood, sisters, mothers, daughters

223. society

224. solo. a group of one.

225. sons, brothers, brotherhood, brethren, fathers

226. sorority

227. special interest group, SIG. term used by members of Mensa for a small group of members with a common interest.

228. squad

229. squadron

230. station

231. subdivision, sub. 1. a plot of land with a group of single-family homes laid out along several streets; 2. the group who live in a sub.

232. sub-unit

233. support group

234. symphony orchestra, symphony

235. task force

236. team

237. temple

238. tontine. a group of mutual investors.

239. touch group, T-group. youth camp term for a small group of campers who do activities together.

240. tribe

241. trio. a group of three.

242. troop. Girl Scout term for local group.

243. troupe. group of actors.

244. trust

245. umbrella, umbrella group

246. unit, united

247. unlimited

248. wing

249. working group, WG

250. wungwa. Hopi term for a clan (Native Americans of southwestern US).

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40 Synonyms for Universalism

. . . As a student of Universalist history, I find myself intrigued by all the words and phrases that have been used over the years to refer to Universalism or to the doctrine of universal salvation, the primary tenet of Universalism.

I have collected over 100 of these words and phrases but am posting only 40 here. They have been culled from many sources, the most common being 19th-century American books and periodicals published by Universalists. This religion was the fifth largest in the United States in the 1850s and 1860s and the great majority of my research has been around this period.

Unitarian Universalists have a tendency to undercut or even ignore Universalist history for some reason. (I am collecting examples of this tendency and will post them here one day.) And, while Unitarian history does interest me somewhat, there are already plenty of people doing research there, but only a handful of people researching Universalism. As a lifelong Unitarian Universalist I have witnessed countless examples of our faith being referred to solely as Unitarianism, but for myself, I am more inspired by the history and message of Universalism.

General Terms

• 1. universalism
  
• 2. universal salvation
  
• 3. universal grace
  
• 4. universal holiness and happiness
  
• 5. universal reconciliation
  
• 6. universal restoration
  
• 7. restorationism
  
• 8. the larger faith
  
• 9. the larger hope
  
• 10. the great salvation
  
• 11. the better gospel
  
• 12. the message of universal joy
  
• 13. primitive Christianity
  
• 14. liberal Christianity
  
• 15. the Abrahamic religion
  

Terms from Adherents

• 16. Origenism, the belief that all people will attain heaven, not just a select few. After Origen of Alexandria (185-254), Egyptian theologian, leader of a school of theology at Alexandria 203-254, compiler of the first parallel-text bibles, the Hexapla and Octapla
  
• 17. Arminianism and 18. Remonstrantism, the belief that Christ died for all, not some. After the Rev. Jacobus Arminius (1560-1609), Dutch theologian, chair of theology at the University of Leiden 1595-1609, first to espouse the doctrine of free will. His followers were called Remonstrants.
  
• 19. Rellyism or Rellyanism, the doctrine of universal salvation. After the Rev. James Relly (1722-1778), Welsh theologian, wrote Union: or a Treatise on Consanguinity and Affinity between Christ and His Church 1759, the first important modern work on universalism
  

Terms from the Rev. Stephen R. Smith (1788-1850), founder and major fundraiser of Clinton Liberal Institute, 1831, the first nonsectarian school in New York state; first minister to regularly include a question-and-discussion period following his sermon c.1815 (this event was known as a talkback in the 1970s)

• 20. the free church
  
• 21. the better covenant
  
• 22. the everlasting gospel
  
• 23. the gospel of illimitable grace
  
• 24. the message by which captive souls were made free
  
• 25. the purification and happiness of the entire human race
  

Terms from the Rev. Thomas Barns (1749-1816) (later spelled Barnes), primary Universalist preacher in Maine from 1799 to 1816. As a member of the Massachusetts legislature 1807-1814, Barns successfully ended taxation by Congregationalists of Universalists, Methodists, and Baptists in New Gloucester (now Maine) in 1807. He also served as president 1809-1812 of what was to become the Universalist Church of America.

• 26. the impartial gospel of the Lord Jesus
  
• 27. salvation, full, free and sure
  
• 28. the gospel hope in the salvation of a whole world
  

Terms from the Rev. Abraham Norwood (1806-1880), early American Universalist evangelist. He wrote Religious Proscription for Opinion's Sake 1832 and Acts of the Elders, Commonly Called the Book of Abraham 1842, two popular defenses of Universalism which converted many.

• 29. the Universalean belief
  
• 30. the most happifying truth ever presented to man
  
• 31. the gospel of universal benevolence and salvation
  

Terms from the Rev. Thomas Allin (1835-1908), minister in the Church of England. He wrote Universalism Asserted: On Authority of Reason, the Fathers, and Holy Scripture in 1887.

• 32. the liberation of all souls
  
• 33. the restoration of every fallen spirit
  
• 34. the final conversion of all evil beings
  

Miscellaneous Terms

• 35. that precious faith (from the Rev. Edward Mott Woolley, 1803-1853)
  
• 36. the Democracy of Christianity (from the Rev. James Freeman Clarke, 1810-1888, Unitarian)
  
• 37. the sublime and heavenly doctrine of universal benevolence (from the Rev. Pitt Morse, 1796-1860)
  
• 38. the doctrine of God's universal goodness to his children (from Lucy Barns, 1780-1839, daughter of the Rev. Thomas Barns)
  
• 39. finished salvation (from the Rev. James Relly)
  

Finally, a modern reference remarkable for its candor

• 40. the black hole of our history (from Nancy Proctor, who, after completing an online course on UU history offered by the Starr King School for Religion, founded by Unitarians, said one of the references filled "what for me is the black hole of our history," referring to Universalism)

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