A group of lions is called a pride — one of the most recognizable collective nouns in the English language, and one of the few that’s actually earned its reputation for accuracy.
Unlike many collective nouns, which were coined for humor or whimsy and bear little relation to how an animal actually behaves, “pride” reflects something real: lions are the only big cats that live in structured, long-term social groups. Everything about the word’s staying power comes down to how well it captures lion society itself.
What Is a Group of Lions Called?
The standard, universally recognized term is a pride of lions. A pride is typically built around a core of related females and their cubs, along with a small coalition of resident males — often brothers — who defend the pride’s territory together. A handful of older or rarer terms occasionally turn up in historical word-lists and hunting glossaries, including “troop,” “sault,” and “sowse,” but none of these ever displaced “pride” as the term people actually use.
Other Collective Nouns for Lions
“Pride” dominates, but a few older or lesser-used terms show up in historical collective-noun lists.
- Troop — a general-purpose term for an organized group, borrowed from military language and applied to lions (among many other animals) before “pride” became the standard.
- Sault and Sowse — obscure entries that appear in old hunting and falconry word-lists; their exact origin isn’t fully confirmed, but both may trace to words describing a sudden leap or swooping strike, possibly a nod to how lions close in on prey.
Where Did the Name Come From?
Like many of English’s animal collective nouns, “pride” is often linked to the tradition of terms of venery collected in works like the Book of Saint Albans (1486), a period when writers assigned fanciful, symbolic names to groups of animals for hunting and courtly language. But “pride” itself didn’t become the fixed, widely used term for lions until much later — it’s first recorded in this sense around the late 15th century, yet didn’t see common everyday use until the 20th century.
The most cited explanation ties “pride” to the lion’s traditional status as the “king of beasts,” an association with nobility, dignity, and rank that made “pride” — in the old sense of noble bearing — feel like a natural fit. Others connect the word to the Latin praeda (“prey” or “plunder”), pointing to the lion’s position at the top of the food chain. Either way, unlike most collective nouns, this one has aged well: it accurately reflects a genuinely unusual social structure among big cats.
Lion Facts
- Habitat: Lions live primarily in the grasslands, savannas, and open woodlands of sub-Saharan Africa, with a small, critically endangered population surviving in India’s Gir Forest.
- Social behavior: Lions are the only cat species that lives in stable social groups. A pride typically includes multiple related females, their cubs, and a small coalition of males; females do the majority of the hunting, often cooperatively.
- Diet: Lions are carnivores that hunt large hoofed mammals such as wildebeest, zebra, and buffalo, and will scavenge when the opportunity arises.
- Lifespan: Wild lions typically live 10–14 years; lionesses tend to live longer than males, who face more injuries defending territory.
- Male lions leave their birth pride around age two to three and often form small coalitions with other males — frequently brothers — before eventually taking over a pride of their own.
- A lion’s roar can be heard from as far as 5 miles (8 km) away and is used to communicate location and defend territory.
Example Sentences
- A pride of lions rested in the shade through the heat of the afternoon.
- Researchers tracked the pride of lions as it moved toward a new water source.
- From the safari vehicle, we watched a pride of lions lounging near the riverbank.
Other Names for a Group of Lions
Explore the individual collective nouns for lions in more depth:
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a group of lions called?
A group of lions is called a pride. A pride typically includes related females, their cubs, and a small coalition of adult males.
Is pride an accurate description of how lions actually live?
Yes. Lions are the only big cat species that lives in long-term, structured social groups, so unlike many collective nouns, pride reflects real, documented behavior rather than pure whimsy.
Are there other collective nouns for lions besides pride?
A few rarer or historical terms occasionally appear in old word-lists, including troop, sault, and sowse, but none of these are in common use today. Pride is by far the standard term.
Why is a group of lions called a pride and not a flock or herd?
Terms like flock and herd are typically reserved for prey animals that move in large, loosely organized numbers. Pride was chosen instead to reflect the lion’s traditional association with nobility and its unusually tight-knit, hierarchical social structure.
How is a lion pride different from a tiger or leopard group?
Tigers and leopards are largely solitary outside of mating and raising young, so there’s no real equivalent to a lion pride. Lions are unique among big cats for living and hunting together as a stable, cooperative group.
How many lions are typically in a pride?
Pride size varies with habitat and prey availability, but most prides include roughly 10 to 15 lions, sometimes more where food is abundant.
Related: Collective Nouns for Mammals