congregate

English edit

Etymology edit

From Latin congregatus, past participle of congregare (“to congregate”), from con- (“with, together”) + gregare (“to collect into a flock”), from grex (“flock, herd”). See gregarious.

Pronunciation edit

(UK) IPA^(key): /ˈkɒŋ.ɡɹə.ɡeɪt/
Audio (Southern England) (file)

Adjective edit

congregate (comparative more congregate, superlative most congregate)

(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.

Verb edit

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

(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], […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:
  The great receptacle Of congregated waters he called Seas.
- 1825, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Aids to Reflection:
  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.
(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.