Congressmen

How to spell congressmen

11 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce congressmen

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does congressmen mean?

1. nounMore than one member of a legislative body, especially the United States Congress.

Congressmen in a sentence

• Several congressmen voted against the new spending bill.

• The lobbyists met with congressmen from three different states.

Where does congressmen come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word is built on the noun congress, which descends from the Latin congressus, meaning 'a meeting' or 'a coming together'. That noun grew from the verb congredi, formed from com- 'together' and gradi 'to step or walk', so the literal idea was of people walking together to meet face to face. English adopted congress in the 1500s for any formal assembly or gathering, and over time it narrowed in American usage to the national legislature. The compound congressman, a member of that legislature, was coined in the United States in the late 1700s, and congressmen is simply its plural, swapping the -man ending for -men. The same gradi root that gives the doubled-s 'gress' also lives in progress, regress, and gradual, which is a useful reminder that the spelling keeps two s letters.

How the word is built

• con- (together)
• gress (from Latin gradi: to step or walk)
• -men (plural of man)