gregal

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin gregālis.

Adjective

gregal (not comparable)

1. (rare) Pertaining to, or like, a flock.
   • 1658 [a. 1604], Thomas Muffet, “The Theatre of Insects: Or, of lesser living creatures”, in The History of Four-footed Beasts, Serpents, and Insects […]‎^[1], page 921:

     Now the Wasp is a winged Insect, gregal or hearding round like a ring, long, having four wings […]

   • 1660, O. Cromwells Thankes to the Lord Generall, Faithfully presented by Hugh Peters In another Conference‎^[2], page 2:

     The old Proverb is very true, Birds of a Feather, will flock together: And so will gregal Beasts too.

   • 1873, William Starbuck Mayo, Never Again‎^[3], page 86:

     But for this gregal conformity there is, as I have said, a cause and an excuse.

   • 1960, T. T. Paterson, Glasgow Limited: A Case-Study in Industrial War and Peace, page 15:

     Whereas the turbate group can roughly be said to be irrational and unorganised, the gregal group may be described loosely as irrational yet organised.

Further reading

• “gregal”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• gargle, lagger, raggle

Catalan

Etymology

From grec +‎ -al, replacing earlier vent grec (“Greek wind”), a denomination probably originating in Sicily (which lies southwest of Greece).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [ɡɾəˈɣal]
• IPA^(key): (Valencian) [ɡɾeˈɣal]

Noun

gregal m (plural gregals)

1. northeast
2. a northeast wind
   • 1953, Josep Pla, Les hores:

     En el meu llibre El vent de garbí he parlat llargament de la rotació dels vents seguint el camí del sol: el gregal del matí arrossegant sobre els seus lloms tritons i sirenes, cargols d'escuma, lluïssors rutilants, olor de pinassa, posant frescor de verd en les persianes; el xaloc petitet —el xaloquet de la Crònica de Muntaner— asfixiat pel sol meridià; el llebeig o garbí de l'hora de posar l'arròs a taula.

     In my book The southwest wind I spoke at length about the rotation of the winds following the path of the sun: the northeast wind of morning dragging over its loins tritons and sirens, spirals of foam, sparking brightness, the scent of pine, putting the freshness of greenery in the blinds; the small sirocco--the "xaloquet" of the Chronicle of Muntaner--asphyxiated by the midday sun; the southwest wind of the hour when rice is set on the table.

Derived terms

• gregalada
• gregalejar

Further reading

• “gregal” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.