congregate

English

Etymology

The adjective is first attested in 1400–1450, in Middle English, the verb c. 1513; from Middle English congregat(e) (“(of people) banded together; (of liquids) accumulated; (of muscles) contracted; (of wounds) closed up”), borrowed from Latin congregātus, perfect passive participle of congregō (“to congregate”) (see -ate (etymology 1, 2 and 3), from con- (“with, together”) + gregō (“to collect into a flock”), from grex (“flock, herd”). See gregarious and egregious. Participial usage of the adjective up until Early Modern English.

Pronunciation

verb

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈkɒŋɡɹəɡeɪt/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

adjective, noun

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈkɒŋɡɹəɡət/

Verb

congregate (third-person singular simple present congregates, present participle congregating, simple past and past participle congregated)

1. (transitive) To collect into an assembly or assemblage; to bring into one place, or into a united body.

   Synonyms: amass, assemble, compact, bring together, gather, mass; see also Thesaurus:round up

   • 1594–1597, Richard Hooker, edited by J[ohn] S[penser], Of the Lawes of Ecclesiastical Politie, […], London: […] Will[iam] Stansby [for Matthew Lownes], published 1611, →OCLC, (please specify the page):

     Any multitude of Christian men congregated may be termed by the name of a church.

   • 1667, John Milton, “Book VII”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:

     The great receptacle Of congregated waters he called Seas.

   • 1825, S[amuel] T[aylor] Coleridge, Aids to Reflection in the Formation of a Manly Character on the Several Grounds of Prudence, Morality, and Religion: […], London: […] Thomas Davison, […] for Taylor and Hessey, […], →OCLC:

     Cold congregates all bodies.

   • 1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter VII, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume II, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 68:

     And here I would observe, that love of admiration seems scarcely to be properly appreciated; it is the only bond of society—we could not otherwise endure each other. It is the true source of the sublime, and, my conscience obliges me to add, of the ridiculous. Still, it is the strong necessity of admiring each other, and the being admired in our turn, that has built cities, congregated multitudes, and organised what we call our present state of civilisation.

2. (intransitive) To come together; to assemble; to meet.

   Synonyms: assemble, begather, forgather; see also Thesaurus:assemble

   • c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iii]:

     Even there where merchants most do congregate.

Related terms

• congregation

Translations

To collect into an assembly or assemblage

• Bulgarian: струпвам (bg) (strupvam)
• Catalan: congregar (ca)
• Galician: congregar
• German: ansammeln (de), versammeln (de)
• Interlingua: congregar
• Maori: popō
• Portuguese: congregar (pt)
• Russian: собира́ть (ru) (sobirátʹ)
• Spanish: congregar (es)

To come together; to assemble; to meet

• Azerbaijani: yığışmaq
• Bulgarian: събирам се (sǎbiram se), струпвам се (strupvam se)
• Cherokee: ᎠᎾᏓᏟᏏᎭ (anadatlisiha)
• Finnish: kokoontua (fi), kerääntyä (fi)
• German: zusammenkommen (de)
• Gothic: 𐌲𐌰𐌵𐌹𐌼𐌰𐌽 (gaqiman)
• Interlingua: congregar se
• Maori: hui, huihui, popō, whakamine, whakaopeti, ikapahi, kāpunipuni
• Portuguese: congregar (pt)
• Quechua: huñunakuy
• Russian: собира́ться (ru) (sobirátʹsja)
• Spanish: congregarse (es)

Derived terms

• congregative
• congregator
• recongregate
• uncongregated

Adjective

congregate (comparative more congregate, superlative most congregate)

1. (obsolete, as a participle) Congregated.
   • c. 1597–1598, Edmund Spenser, “Two Cantos of Mutabilitie: […]. Book VII, Canto VI.”, in The Faerie Queene, […], London: […] H[umphrey] L[ownes] for Mathew Lownes, published 1609, →OCLC, stanza 19, page 355:

     VVith all the Gods about him congregate:

2. (obsolete, Christianity) Congregated (organized on a congregational basis).

   congregate churches

3. (rare) Collective; assembled; compact.
   • 1605, Francis Bacon, The Advancement of Learning, Book II, Chapter IX:

     With this reservation, therefore, we proceed to human philosophy or humanity, which hath two parts: the one considereth man segregate or distributively, the other congregate or in society; so as human philosophy is either simple and particular, or conjugate and civil.

Noun

congregates

1. (obsolete, in the plural) Assembled persons.
   • 1587, William Harrison, Description of England, II. viii:

     That the congregates may frankelie shew their minds upon such matters as are to come before them.

Italian

Etymology 1

Verb

congregate

1. inflection of congregare:
   1. second-person plural present indicative
   2. second-person plural imperative

Etymology 2

Participle

congregate f pl

1. feminine plural of congregato

Anagrams

• conteggerà

Latin

Verb

congregāte

1. second-person plural present active imperative of congregō

Spanish

Verb

congregate

1. second-person singular voseo imperative of congregar combined with te