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congress.

A formal gathering or assembly of persons; a conference held to discuss or decide on a specific question.

8 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈkɑŋɡɹəs/General-American/-ɹɛs/General-American/ˈkɒŋˌɡɹɛs/Received-Pronunciation

  1. A formal gathering or assembly of persons; a conference held to discuss or decide on a specific question.

    countable · uncountable

  2. A legislative body of a state, originally the bicameral legislature of the United States of America.

    capitalized · countable · often · uncountable

  3. An association, especially one consisting of other associations or representatives of interest groups.

    countable · uncountable
    the National Congress of American Indians

  4. Coitus: sexual intercourse.

    countable · dated · uncountable

  5. A coming together of two or more people; a meeting.

    archaic · countable · uncountable

  6. A group of baboons.

    collective · countable · rare
Where this word comes from

From Latin congress(um), the past participle of congredior (“to go, come together”), itself from con- + gradior (“to go, step”). The verb is from the noun. Compare typologically coven, convent, convention, omitting several steps, from con- + veniō, Russian сход (sxod), схо́дка (sxódka), akin to сходи́ться (sxodítʹsja), ходи́ть (xodítʹ). Also compare Czech sjezd, Russian съезд (sʺjezd), akin to съезжа́ться (sʺjezžátʹsja), е́здить (jézditʹ). Also compare conference.

verb/kənˈɡɹɛs//kəŋˈɡɹɛs/

  1. To assemble together.

    intransitive

  2. To meet in a congress.

Where this word comes from

From Latin congress(um), the past participle of congredior (“to go, come together”), itself from con- + gradior (“to go, step”). The verb is from the noun. Compare typologically coven, convent, convention, omitting several steps, from con- + veniō, Russian сход (sxod), схо́дка (sxódka), akin to сходи́ться (sxodítʹsja), ходи́ть (xodítʹ). Also compare Czech sjezd, Russian съезд (sʺjezd), akin to съезжа́ться (sʺjezžátʹsja), е́здить (jézditʹ). Also compare conference.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.