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==Etymology== The term ''raven'' originally referred to the [[common raven]] (''Corvus corax''), the widespread species of the [[Northern Hemisphere]]. The modern English word ''raven'' has cognates in all other [[Germanic languages]], including [[Old Norse]] (and subsequently [[Icelandic language|modern Icelandic]]) {{lang|non|hrafn}}<ref>''Oxford English Dictionary'' entry for "raven".</ref> and [[Old High German]] {{lang|goh|(h)Raban}},<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Raven |encyclopedia=[[Oxford English Dictionary]] |editor=Simpson, J. |editor2=Weiner, E. |year=1989 |edition=2nd |location=Oxford |publisher=[[Clarendon Press]] |isbn= 0-19-861186-2 }}</ref> all of which descend from [[Proto-Germanic]] {{lang|gem-x-proto|*hrabanaz}}.<ref>{{cite web |title=Raven |work=[[Online Etymology Dictionary]] |url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=raven |access-date=14 May 2007 }}</ref> [[Collective nouns]] for a group of ravens include a "conspiracy", a "treachery", a "rave" and an "unkindness";<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lipton |first=James |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AVNazQEACAAJ |title=An Exaltation of Larks |date=1991 |publisher=[[Viking Press]] |isbn=978-0-670-30044-0 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://a-z-animals.com/blog/what-is-a-group-of-ravens-called/|title=What is a Group of Ravens Called?|first=Niccoy|last=Walker|date=15 February 2023|website=A-Z Animals}}</ref> in practice, most people use the more generic "flock".<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=flock+of+ravens,unkindness+of+ravens,treachery+of+ravens,conspiracy+of+ravens&year_start=1900&year_end=2008&corpus=15&smoothing=3&share=&direct_url=t1%3B%2Cflock%20of%20ravens%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2Cunkindness%20of%20ravens%3B%2Cc0t1;,flock%20of%20ravens;,c0;.t1;,unkindness%20of%20ravens;,c0 |title=flock of ravens, unkindness of ravens, treachery of ravens, conspiracy of ravens |work=[[Google Books Ngram Viewer]] |access-date=2020-01-05 }}</ref>
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