congregation

congregation
/kong'gri gay"sheuhn/, n.
1. an assembly of persons brought together for common religious worship.
2. the act of congregating or the state of being congregated.
3. a gathered or assembled body; assemblage.
4. an organization formed for the purpose of providing for worship of God, for religious education, and for other church activities; a local church society.
5. the people of Israel. Ex. 12:3,6; Lev. 4:13.
6. New Testament. the Christian church in general.
7. Rom. Cath. Ch.
a. a committee of cardinals or other ecclesiastics.
b. a community of men or women, either with or without vows, observing a common rule.
8. (at English universities) the general assembly of the doctors, fellows, etc.
9. (in colonial North America) a parish, town, plantation, or other settlement.
[1300-50; ME congregacio(u)n ( < AF) < L congregation- (s. of congregatio); see CONGREGATE, -ION]

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      an assembly of persons, especially a body assembled for religious worship or habitually attending a particular church. The word occurs more than 350 times in the King James Version of the English Bible, but only one of these references is in the New Testament (Acts 13:43). As it is used in the Old Testament, congregation sometimes refers to the entire Israelite community, and at other times it means a gathering or assembly of people.

      In the Roman Catholic church the word is used in several senses: (1) the congregations or committees of the Sacred College of Cardinals that form administrative departments, (2) the committees of bishops for the regulation of procedure at general councils, (3) branches of a religious order, following its general rule but forming separate groups, each with its special constitution and observances, (4) religious communities composed of persons who have taken simple, rather than solemn, vows, and (5) in France, religious associations of lay persons, male or female, for some pious, charitable, or educational purpose.

      In Protestant churches a congregation usually means the assembly of worshipers gathered in a church at a particular service. But among English Nonconformists and American Protestants, it has been increasingly used to designate the members of a local church, often only the lay people of a local church, and it has become virtually synonymous with parish.

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • congrégation — [ kɔ̃gregasjɔ̃ ] n. f. • av. 1622; « réunion » XIIe; lat. congregatio, rac. grex « troupeau » 1 ♦ Compagnie de prêtres, de religieux, de religieuses. ⇒ communauté, ordre. La congrégation de l Oratoire. La loi sur les congrégations (1901). Par… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • congrégation — CONGRÉGATION. sub. fém. Compagnie, corps de plusieurs personnes religieuses ou séculières, vivant sous une même règle. Congrégation Régulière. Congrégation Séculière. Congrégation célèbre. Congrégation d Hommes. Congrégation de Filles. Les… …   Dictionnaire de l'Académie Française 1798

  • congregation — Congregation. s. f. Compagnie, corps de plusieurs personnes Religieuses ou seculieres, assemblées sous de certaines Regles. Congregation reguliere, Congregation seculiere. Congregation celebre. Congregation d hommes. Congregation de filles. les… …   Dictionnaire de l'Académie française

  • Congregation — Con gre*ga tion, n. [L. congregatio: cf. F. congr[ e]gation.] 1. The act of congregating, or bringing together, or of collecting into one aggregate or mass. [1913 Webster] The means of reduction in the fire is but by the congregation of… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Congregation — Congrégation Cette page d’homonymie répertorie les différents sujets et articles partageant un même nom …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Congregation — (v. lat.), 1) Vereinigung; 2) Vereinigung mehrerer Klöster zur Beobachtung derselben Regeln u. Statuten. Die geistlichen Orden gingen zum Theil aus solchen Verbindungen hervor u. theilten sich wieder in mehrere C en, die in Nebensachen u. in der… …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

  • congregation — mid 14c., a gathering, assembly, from O.Fr. congregacion (12c., Mod.Fr. congrégation), from L. congregationem (nom. congregatio), noun of action from congregare (see CONGREGATE (Cf. congregate)). Used by Tyndale to translate Gk. ekklesia in New… …   Etymology dictionary

  • congregation — [käŋ΄grə gā′shən, kän΄grə gā′shən] n. [ME congregacioun < OFr congregation or L congregatio, an assembling (in ML(Ec), religious community)] 1. a congregating or being congregated 2. a gathering of people or things; assemblage 3. an assembly… …   English World dictionary

  • Congregation — Congregation. Dieses Wort, welches eigentlich Versammlung bedeutet, wird in der römischen Kirche in dreifacher Bedeutung gebraucht. 1. bezeichnet man damit die Versammlung der Cardinäle und anderer päpstlicher Beamten, um über irgend einen… …   Damen Conversations Lexikon

  • Congregation — lat. congregatio, Zusammenschaarung, geistlicher, besonders klosterartiger Verein, Klosterorden und Zweige eines solchen, z.B. die von Papst Clemens VIII. geförderte C. helvetica des Benedictinerordens, die noch heute besteht. C. heißen auch die… …   Herders Conversations-Lexikon

  • congregation — I noun aggregate, aggregation, amassment, assemblage, assembly, assembly of persons, association, audience, batch, coetus, collection, conclave, conference, congregated body, convention, conventus, convergence, convocation, crowd, forgathering,… …   Law dictionary

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