congregate
Americanverb (used without object)
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congregates,
present (3rd person singular)
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congregated,
past participle, past
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congregating
present participle
verb (used with object)
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congregates,
present (3rd person singular)
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congregated,
past participle, past
-
congregating
present participle
adjective
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congregated; assembled.
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formed by collecting; collective.
verb
adjective
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collected together; assembled
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relating to collecting; collective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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congregativenessnoun
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congregatornoun
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decongregateverb
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congregativeadjective
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noncongregativeadjective
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uncongregatedadjective
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uncongregativeadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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congregatesimple
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congregatessimple
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have congregatedperfect
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has congregatedperfect
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am congregatingprogressive
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are congregatingprogressive
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is congregatingprogressive
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have been congregatingperfect progressive
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has been congregatingperfect progressive
Past
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congregatedsimple
-
had congregatedperfect
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was congregatingprogressive
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were congregatingprogressive
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had been congregatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of congregate
1350–1400; Middle English (adj.) < Latin congregātus (past participle of congregāre to flock together), equivalent to con- con- + greg- (stem of grex ) flock + -ātus -ate 1
Explanation
Congregate is a verb that means to come together, to assemble, or to gather. At school dances, you may congregate with your friends, because you get nervous in front of kids you don't know very well. Congregate comes from Latin root words com, meaning "together" and gregare, meaning "to gather in a flock." Congregation, or a gathering or assembly, comes from the same roots, as does gregarious, an adjective describing someone who likes to gather with others to socialize. If you remember the key word is flock — what ministers often call their congregations — you should have no trouble remembering congregate means to flock together.
Vocabulary lists containing congregate
Power Prefix: con-
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
If you don’t offer food to wild birds, they will be less likely to congregate in your backyard or garden.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 24, 2026
Feathers float over lawns and white goo covers areas where the birds congregate.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 16, 2026
While Celtic fans traditionally congregate in the Trongate and Merchant City, Rangers fans assembled in huge numbers in George Square when the Ibrox side last won the title in 2021.
From BBC ● May 15, 2026
Each competing country has a dedicated coffee house in the city for fans to congregate at.
From Barron's ● May 12, 2026
Several nosey neighbours were beginning to congregate by open windows and doors.
From "Kaffir Boy: An Autobiography" by Mark Mathabane
Teams that sign free agents or make blockbuster trades during the few days everyone of importance in the MLB universe congregates under one luxury hotel roof get out-sized applause for their moves.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 13, 2024
Instead, this 21st Century fanbase congregates more politely on TikTok, Instagram and X, where the hashtag that brings fans, Liam memes, and Bonehead jokes together, is #oasistwt.
From BBC ● Aug. 30, 2024
They form when water vapor congregates around specks of meteor dust floating in the mesosphere and freezes, forming ice crystals.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 2, 2022
In many parts of the deepest ocean, life congregates around seeps—vents in the sea floor where gasses leak out from Earth’s innards and fuel microbial growth, attracting communities of deep-sea invertebrates.
From Science Magazine ● Feb. 8, 2022
The day's last flock of gray birds congregates above the seedheads of spent wildflowers and launches across the yellow green into a slate-blue sky.
From "What the Night Sings" by Vesper Stamper
As the top stars congregated in New York for last year's US Open, Arthur Fery was looking in from the outside.
From BBC ● Sep. 1, 2026
And he liked having meals with his family at what is now the Denny’s in Gower Gulch, a place where aspiring cowboy actors once congregated.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2026
On a sunny weekend in early May, hundreds congregated at Raw Farm for its annual Camping With the Cows event.
From Salon ● Jun. 22, 2026
But even with these measures, the unrelenting sun continues to bake the white marble surrounding the grounds of the Grand Mosque where most pilgrims have congregated in recent days.
From Barron's ● May 25, 2026
Graceful purple martins congregated around an elaborate miniature apartment house on a pole nearby.
From "The Milagro Beanfield War" by John Nichols
Pigeons have been leaving a town's High Street looking dirty and efforts to deter the birds from congregating have failed, a mayor has said.
From BBC ● Sep. 12, 2026
So to discourage them from congregating, simply provide less food.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 24, 2026
The day-long convention was over a month in the making, and it was difficult to get day laborers comfortable with congregating in person, Alvarado said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 26, 2026
AIS data showed the "vast majority" of vessels congregating in the East China Sea appeared to be from the eastern province of Zhejiang, where several maritime militia ports are located, said Poling.
From Barron's ● Mar. 13, 2026
That butchery business was long ago; surely by now the sharks would be out of the habit of congregating here.
From "The Mysterious Benedict Society" by Trenton Lee Stewart
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
