Congregational

How to spell congregational

14 letters · 5 syllables

How to pronounce congregational

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does congregational mean?

1. adjectiveRelating to a congregation, the body of people assembled for worship.
2. adjectiveBelonging to the Christian tradition in which each local church governs its own affairs.

Congregational in a sentence

• The minister thanked everyone for their congregational singing during the service.

• The town has a long congregational heritage dating back to the early settlers.

• The new hymn book encouraged more congregational participation each Sunday.

• She grew up attending a congregational chapel where members elected their own leaders.

Where does congregational come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin verb congregare, which meant 'to gather into a flock' or 'to herd together'. It was built from the prefix con-, meaning 'together', and the noun grex (in its grammatical stem greg-), meaning a 'flock' or 'herd' of animals. From congregare came the Latin noun congregatio, an 'assembly' or 'gathering', which passed through Old French and into English in the late medieval period, especially in religious use for a body of worshippers gathered together. The adjective congregational was then formed in English by adding the familiar suffixes -ion and -al, and from the seventeenth century it also named the Congregational churches, in which each local congregation governs itself. The buried grex root is worth remembering for spelling, since it explains why the word carries 'greg' in the middle, the very same element found in 'gregarious', literally 'fond of the flock'.

How the word is built

• con- (together)
• greg (flock, herd)
• -ate (verb)
• -ion (noun)
• -al (adjective suffix)