congregation
Pluralcongregations
- 1A gathering of worshippers in a church, synagogue, mosque, or other house of worship; also, the people attending a service, as distinct from the clergy or choir who lead it.
The rabbi asked the congregation to rise for the final blessing.
A small congregation gathered in the chapel despite the snowstorm.
Similarflock, worshippers, parishioners, assembly, faithful
Note
It is not tied to one faith. Turkey's religious affairs directorate tells imams and their congregations to pray for rain, and a synagogue's congregation welcomes Jews and non-Jews alike. The word often sets the worshippers apart from those who lead them, as in responsory worship, where the congregation answers the minister or choir. Keep it distinct from the organized religious body. This sense means the people in the room, and that one means a membership that lasts between services.
- 2An organized religious body whose members meet regularly for worship, or the members themselves considered as a group.
The congregation voted to hire a new pastor at its annual meeting.
Three congregations in the valley merged after decades of shrinking attendance.
Similarparish, church, fellowship, community, flock
Note
Here the word names an institution, something that can vote, hire a pastor, own property or merge with its neighbors. It often has legal standing and formal membership. In congregationalist churches it is the basic self-governing unit, answerable to no higher body. The verbs it takes show the difference: an assembly gathers and sings, while this kind of congregation decides.
- 3The act or process of gathering or collecting together in one place.
The congregation of protesters near the capitol prompted officials to close several streets.
Researchers studied the congregation of dust particles around the young star.
Similargathering, assembly, aggregation, accumulation, concentration
Oppositedispersal, dispersion, scattering
Note
The word begins with a herder's image. It came through Middle English and Old French from Latin congregātiō, built on congregō, "to herd into a flock." Here it names the coming-together itself rather than the crowd that results, and it usually takes of: the congregation of protesters, of dust particles. That flock survives most literally in the word for gathered birds.
- 4Any sizable gathering of people assembled in one place, regardless of the occasion.
A noisy congregation of reporters formed outside the courthouse before the verdict.
The festival drew a congregation of food vendors, musicians, and curious locals.
Similarcrowd, gathering, throng, assembly, assemblage
Note
This is the worship word let loose on any crowd. The Knot's Complete Guide to Weddings in the Real World (1998) shows the bridge between the two meanings: at a ceremony where the couple sits on facing benches and everyone worships silently, the guests are simply "the rest of the congregation." Applied to reporters or vendors, the word keeps a trace of people gathered for a shared purpose.
- 5A main department of the Vatican administration of the Catholic Church, known formally as a Roman Congregation.
Each congregation in the Roman Curia oversaw a specific area of church governance.
The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith reviewed the theologian's writings before publication.
Note
Here the word belongs to church government rather than church worship. A congregation was a department of the Roman Curia, historically headed by a cardinal prefect. Capitalize it when it names a particular office, as in the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Since the 2022 apostolic constitution Praedicate Evangelium, these offices are called dicasteries, so the older term now appears mostly in writing about the earlier Curia.
- 6The main body of university staff, comprising academics, administrative staff, the heads of colleges, and other senior members.
Congregation approved the new degree regulations at its meeting last week.
Every member of congregation received notice of the vote on the proposed statute.
Note
This is a University of Oxford term for the assembly of academics, senior administrators, heads of colleges and other senior members. It acts as the university's sovereign legislative body, voting on statutes and major policy. As the name of a body it usually takes a capital and no article: Congregation approved the regulations. A person belonging to it is a member of congregation.
- 7A flock of birds of certain species, such as plovers or eagles, gathered together.
A congregation of plovers wheeled over the mudflats at low tide.
Photographers gathered to capture the congregation of bald eagles feeding along the Alaskan river.
Similarflock
Note
This is one of the collective nouns for birds, alongside the murmuration of starlings. The Bazaar, the Exchange and Mart of 1893 sets the two side by side, when a stalker crawls toward a murmuration of starlings he mistook for congregation of plover. Note the unpluralized plover, which is typical of this field usage. The meaning sits closest to the Latin "herd into a flock" behind the act of gathering.
Practice
Can you tell the meanings of congregation apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.
Origin
This word comes through Middle English congregacioun and Old French congregacion from Latin congregātiō, from congregō ('to herd into a flock'). In the 1520s the English Bible translator William Tyndale adopted it to render the Ancient Greek ἐκκλησία (ekklēsía, 'those called together, a meeting'), and 16th-century Reformers preferred it to the word 'church.'