▪ I. ˈcongregate, ppl. a. and n.
[ad. L. congregāt-us, pa. pple. of congregāre, f. con- together + gregā-re to collect into a flock or company, f. greg-em (grex) flock, herd: see gregarious.]
A. adj.
1. Assembled, congregated. † a. as pa. pple. Obs.
| 1432–50 tr. Higden (Rolls) I, These men somme tyme congregate schalle goe furthe. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (1531) 121 All waters were congregate or gathered togyder in one place. 1596 Spenser F.Q. vii. vi. 19 With all the Gods about him congregate. 1605 Bacon Adv. Learn. ii. ix. §1. |
b. as adj.
| 1626 Bacon Sylva §72 Where the Matter is most Congregate, the Cold is the greater. 1864 Neale Seaton. Poems 169 Congregate masses of blackness. |
† 2. = congregated 3. Obs.
| 1680 Answ. Stillingfleet's Serm. 31 So would the Congregate Churches..own the King for Head over them. |
3. Carried on in a congregation; collective.
| 1890 Harper's Mag. Nov. 969/1 A congregate education by clubs. |
† B. pl. Assembled persons. Obs.
| 1587 Harrison England ii. viii. (1877) i. 175 That the congregates may frankelie shew their minds upon such matters as are to come before them. |
▪ II. congregate, v.
(ˈkɒŋgrɪgeɪt)
Also 6 -at.
[f. ppl. stem of L. congregā-re: see prec.]
1. trans. To collect or gather (things) together into a mass or crowd.
| c 1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. (MS. B.) 4 Of enposteme of the hed & watire congregated in children hedys. 1547 Boorde Introd. Knowl. xxxii. 205 Al the appostels bodies or bones to be congregated and brought together into one place. 1614 Raleigh Hist. World i. i. vii, These waters were afterwards congregated and called the sea. 1820 Shelley Summer & Winter, The north wind congregates in crowds The floating mountains of the silver clouds. 1877 W. Thomson Voy. Challenger II. ii. 66 The spines are specially congregated on the central..portion of the disc. |
2. To assemble (people), esp. to a meeting.
| 1513 Bradshaw St. Werburge ii. 1437 The constable congregate in all goodly hast A myghty stronge host in theyr best arraye. 1563–87 Foxe A. & M. (1596) 8/1 Congregating the cleargie when need is of anie Councell or election. 1697 Evelyn Numism. viii. 280 Bells..to Congregate the People. a 1763 Shenstone Progr. Taste i. 32 Alas! that wisdom ever shuns To congregate her scatter'd sons. 1771 Mrs. Harris in Priv. Lett. 1st Ld. Malmesbury I. 223 They were congregated by handbills. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) I. 115 The house of..Callias, in which are congregated the noblest and wisest of the Athenians. |
† b. pass. To be gathered or collected from.
| 1548 Udall, etc. Erasm. Par. Luke v. 66 The church is congregated of two peoples, the Jews, and the Gentiles. |
3. refl. and intr. To flock or assemble together; to meet in a large body.
| refl. 1587 Fleming Contn. Holinshed III. 1321/2 He as principall, and others as accessaries..congregated themselues, and..prouoked the people in maner of a rebellion. |
| intr. 1538 J. Lambert in Foxe A. & M. (1596) 1021/1 Then coulde all the other there congregate. 1596 Shakes. Merch. V. i. iii. 50 Euen there where Merchants most doe congregate. 1659 Gauden Slight Healers (1660) 105 Members of the Church with which they actually congregate and communicate. 1797 T. Bewick Brit. Birds (1847) I. 300 Swallows..after they begin to congregate. 1848 Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. 549 The place where the British exiles had congregated. 1875 Lyell Princ. Geol. II. iii. xlvi. 542 Herds of herbivorous animals congregate together. |
† b. To meet, mingle with. Obs.
| 1626 Bacon Sylva §328 The Spirits of Bodies, which ever are unquiet to Get forth, and Congregate with the Air. |
Hence ˈcongregating vbl. n. and ppl. a.
| 1649 Roberts Clavis Bibl. 364 The Congregating of men. 1775 Harris Philos. Arrangem. (1841) 291 We can trace the same congregating quality in the bee, in the beaver. 1805 Wordsw. Prelude iii. (1850) 71 The congregating temper that pervades Our unripe years. |