Plural of bevy; groups or flocks of people or animals, especially birds.
From Middle English 'bevy,' possibly from Old French 'bevée' meaning a drink or drinking session. The origin is debated, but it may relate to gathering for drinking. By the 1400s it had shifted to mean a group or company of people.
A 'bevy of beauties' or 'bevy of quail' is a standard phrase, but originally 'bevy' might have meant a drinking group—the shift from 'drinking companions' to 'any group' shows how words' meanings can drift when they're used poetically.
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