ˌ ̷ ̷ ̷ ̷ˈgāshən noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English congregacioun, from Middle French congregation, from Latin congregation-, congregatio, from congregatus + -ion-, -io -ion
1.
a. : an assembly of persons : gathering ; especially : an assembly of persons met for the worship of God and for religious instruction : a body of people who habitually so meet
b.
(1) obsolete : the whole number or body
(2) : the whole body of Christians or an organized body of believers in a particular locality ; also : sect , denomination
c. : a collection or gathering of animals or things
a foul and pestilent congregation of vapors — Shakespeare
a great congregation of birds flew overhead
2. : the act or an instance of congregating or bringing together : the state of being congregated
3.
[Late Latin congregation-, congregatio, translation of Hebrew gāhāl ]
: the sacred community or whole body of the Jewish people
4. sometimes capitalized , Roman Catholicism
a. : a company or order of religious persons under a common rule either with or without vows
b. : a permanent body or committee of cardinals to which is entrusted some department of the church business
c. : a group of monasteries forming a subdivision of an order which agree to unite in closer ties of discipline and doctrine
5. : a deliberative meeting of the governing body of an English university
6. capitalized : the Protestant party in Scotland at the time of the Reformation ; also : a local body of this party
7. : the whole body of people of a settlement, town, or parish in those No. American colonies in which the Congregational Church was established