Congressional

How to spell congressional

13 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce congressional

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does congressional mean?

1. adjectiveRelating to a congress, especially the national legislature of the United States.

Congressional in a sentence

• The committee scheduled a congressional hearing on the proposed tax reform.

• Reporters spent the afternoon analysing the congressional vote on the budget.

Where does congressional come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This adjective is built on the noun 'congress', which comes from the Latin congressus, meaning 'a meeting' or 'an encounter'. That noun derives from the verb congredi, 'to come together' or 'to meet', formed from con- 'together' and gradi 'to walk or step'. The same gradi root, meaning literally to stride, also gives English the words 'progress', 'gradual', and 'aggression', so 'congressional' is at heart about people stepping together into one assembly. English took 'congress' in the 1500s for a coming-together of people, and by the time the United States established its national legislature in the late 1700s the word had become the name of that body; 'congressional' followed as the adjective for anything relating to it. The doubled 's' and the soft 'sh' sound in the middle, written 'ssion', are the chief spelling traps, both inherited directly from the Latin congressus.

How the word is built

• con- (together)
• gress (from Latin gradi: to walk or step)
• -ion (noun-forming suffix)
• -al (adjective-forming suffix)