Congress

How to spell congress

8 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce congress

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does congress mean?

1. nounA formal meeting or conference of delegates or representatives gathered to discuss a subject.
2. nounThe national legislative body of certain countries, notably the United States, made up of elected representatives.

Congress in a sentence

• The medical congress drew specialists from forty countries.

• The bill stalled because congress could not agree on the budget.

• Delegates at the annual congress voted on the new charter.

• Members of congress debated the proposal for several weeks.

Where does congress come from?

Language of origin: Latin

Congress comes from the Latin congressus, meaning 'a meeting' or 'an encounter', which was the past participle of the verb congredi, 'to come together' or 'to meet'. That verb was assembled from con-, meaning 'together', and gradi, meaning 'to step' or 'to walk', so the literal image is of people stepping together into one place. English adopted the word in the 1500s for any formal coming-together of people, especially a gathering of envoys or delegates. From the late 1700s it became the proud name of the legislative assembly of the United States, since the new nation's representatives quite literally came together to govern. The same gradi root walks through several relatives such as progress (stepping forward), regress (stepping back), and gradual, which is a useful reminder that the middle of congress is spelled with the same -gress, not -gres.

How the word is built

• con- (together)
• gress (from Latin gradi, to step or walk)
• (noun)