congregation English · revision 39411

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1374, Chaucer's Boece|origins=ine-pro *ger-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * UK: /ˌkɒŋɡɹɪˈɡeɪʃən/^(Wiktionary)

+ * US: /ˌkɑŋɡɹəˈɡeɪʃən/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|congregacioun]], [[bor|fro|congregacion]] and directly [[la|congregātiō|t=an assembling together, union, society]],^(Etymonline)^(OED 2026)^(MWU 2024) a noun of action from [[m|la|congregō|t=to herd together, collect in a flock]],^(Etymonline)^(Ayto 2005) from [[m|la|com-|t=together]] and [[m|la|grex|t=flock, herd]],^(Ayto 2005)^(Weekley 1921) from [[ine-pro|*ger-|t=to gather]].^(Etymonline) The Anglo-Norman word is recorded from the early 12th century.^(AND) [[m|la|grex]] also gave [[gregarious]] and [[egregious]].^(Ayto 2005)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The act of gathering together into one body: about 1374, in Chaucer's translation of Boethius.^(OED 2026)^(Onions 1966) A gathering of people follows about 1384, in his ''House of Fame''.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The word first meant any gathering or assembly, of people, animals or things, as in Hamlet's "pestilent congregation of vapours".^(OED 2026)^(SOED 2002)^(MWU 2024) According to the OED, the sense of an assembly of people is not found in classical Latin but occurs in the Vulgate.^(OED 2026) From 1382 Wycliffite Bibles used ''congregation'' for the assembled people of Israel.^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline) In 1526 Tyndale used it to translate Greek ''ekklesia'' in the New Testament, both for the whole church and for a local body of believers, and the Protestant reformers preferred it to ''church''.^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)^(Weekley 1921) From this came the main modern sense, the people who regularly attend a particular church.^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) Specialized senses include a general assembly of a university (from 1532) and, in the Roman Catholic Church, a religious community or a department of the papal curia.^(OED 2026)^(Collins 2023) Ayto compares the church's congregation with a pastor's flock, as the Latin root meant herding together.^(Ayto 2005)^(Hendrickson 2008)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1374 – the act of gathering together.^(OED 2026)

+ * c. 1384 – a gathering of people.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1382 – the assembly of the Israelites, in the Wycliffite Bible.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1389 – a regular meeting of a society.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1526 – Tyndale's word for the church.^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1526 – a gathering of animals or things.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1532 – a general assembly of a university.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A group of people gathered for [[worship]], especially in a [[church]] or [[chapel]].^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # The members who regularly attend a particular church or [[synagogue]].^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # A gathering or collection of people, animals or things.^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # ''(Roman Catholic Church)'' A religious community bound by simple [[vow|alt=vows]], or a department of the papal [[curia]].^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # A general assembly of the members of a university.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[congregational]]

+ * [[congregationalism]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[aggregate]]

+ * [[aggregation]]

+ * [[congregant]]

+ * [[congregate]]

+ * [[gregarious]]

+ * [[egregious]]

+ * [[segregate]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}