English Dictionary

MISCELLANY

Pronunciation (US): Play  (GB): Play

IPA (US): 

 Dictionary entry overview: What does miscellany mean? 

MISCELLANY (noun)
  The noun MISCELLANY has 2 senses:

1. a collection containing a variety of sorts of thingsplay

2. an anthology of short literary pieces and poems and ballads etc.play

  Familiarity information: MISCELLANY used as a noun is rare.


 Dictionary entry details 


MISCELLANY (noun)


Sense 1

Meaning:

A collection containing a variety of sorts of things

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Synonyms:

assortment; miscellanea; miscellany; mixed bag; mixture; motley; potpourri; salmagundi; smorgasbord; variety

Context example:

a veritable smorgasbord of religions

Hypernyms ("miscellany" is a kind of...):

accumulation; aggregation; assemblage; collection (several things grouped together or considered as a whole)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "miscellany"):

grab bag (an assortment of miscellaneous items)

witch's brew; witches' brew; witches' broth (a fearsome mixture)

range (a variety of different things or activities)

selection (an assortment of things from which a choice can be made)

farrago; gallimaufry; hodgepodge; hotchpotch; melange; mingle-mangle; mishmash; oddments; odds and ends; omnium-gatherum; ragbag (a motley assortment of things)

alphabet soup (a confusing assortment)

sampler (an assortment of various samples)


Sense 2

Meaning:

An anthology of short literary pieces and poems and ballads etc.

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

florilegium; garland; miscellany

Hypernyms ("miscellany" is a kind of...):

anthology (a collection of selected literary passages)


 Context examples 


Now and again he reached out and added a bundle of checks to the flying miscellany that soared through the roof and out of sight in a tremendous circle.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

Under that, the miscellany began—a quadrant, a tin canikin, several sticks of tobacco, two brace of very handsome pistols, a piece of bar silver, an old Spanish watch and some other trinkets of little value and mostly of foreign make, a pair of compasses mounted with brass, and five or six curious West Indian shells.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)



 Learn English with... Proverbs 
"Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise." (English proverb)

"The one who does not risk anything does not gain nor lose" (Breton proverb)

"Meaningless laughter is a sign of ill-breeding." (Arabic proverb)

"Have no respect at table and in bed." (Corsican proverb)



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