covey.
A brood or family of partridges (family Phasianidae), which includes game birds such as grouse (tribe Tetraonini) and ptarmigans (tribe Tetraonini, genus Lagopus).
Meaning & usage
A brood or family of partridges (family Phasianidae), which includes game birds such as grouse (tribe Tetraonini) and ptarmigans (tribe Tetraonini, genus Lagopus).
A group of other birds, such as quail (superfamily Phasianoidea).
A group or party of people; also, a group or set of things.
Where this word comes from
The noun is derived from Middle English covei, covey (“brood of partridges, covey; volley of shot; kind of gun”) [and other forms], from Old French covée (“brood (of chickens), clutch”) (modern French couvée), a noun use of the feminine past participle of cover (“to brood (an egg)”) (modern French couver), from Latin cubāre, the present active infinitive of cubō (“to lie down, recline; to incubate; to be broody”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱewb- (“to lie down”). The verb is derived from the noun. Cognates French couvée (“brood (of chickens), clutch”), couver (“to brood (an egg)”) Italian covata (“brood, clutch, covey, hatch”), covare (“to brood or incubate (an egg)”)
To gather into a group.
Where this word comes from
The noun is derived from Middle English covei, covey (“brood of partridges, covey; volley of shot; kind of gun”) [and other forms], from Old French covée (“brood (of chickens), clutch”) (modern French couvée), a noun use of the feminine past participle of cover (“to brood (an egg)”) (modern French couver), from Latin cubāre, the present active infinitive of cubō (“to lie down, recline; to incubate; to be broody”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱewb- (“to lie down”). The verb is derived from the noun. Cognates French couvée (“brood (of chickens), clutch”), couver (“to brood (an egg)”) Italian covata (“brood, clutch, covey, hatch”), covare (“to brood or incubate (an egg)”)
A male person, a man; a chap, a chappie.
Where this word comes from
From cove + -y (diminutive suffix). Cove is derived from Romani kodo (“this one; him”) or kova (“that person”).
Try it on your idea.
covey has 5 characters. Say it out loud, try it alongside a description of your project, and see whether its meaning fits what you want to create.
These are naming prompts. Meanings and pronunciation can vary; existing brand and domain uses have not been checked.
Explore the name generatorA word with a source.
Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.