congress

See also: Congress

English

Etymology

From Latin congressum, the past participle of congredior (“I go, come together”), itself from con- + gradior (“I go, step”). The verb is from the noun.

Pronunciation

• (noun:)
  • (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈkɑŋɡɹəs/, /-ɹɛs/
  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈkɒŋˌɡɹɛs/

  • Audio (US)

    (file)

• (verb:)
  • IPA^(key): /kənˈɡɹɛs/, /kəŋˈɡɹɛs/

Noun

congress (countable and uncountable, plural congresses)

1. (archaic) A coming together of two or more people; a meeting.
   • 1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Printed by John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, OCLC 54573970:

     , New York Review of Books, 2001, p.48:

     After some little repast, he went to see Democritus […]. The multitude stood gazing round about to see the congress.

2. A formal gathering or assembly; a conference held to discuss or decide on a specific question.
3. (often capitalized: Congress) A legislative body of a state, originally the bicameral legislature of the United States of America.
4. An association, especially one consisting of other associations or representatives of interest groups.

   The National Congress of American Indians

5. (dated) Coitus; sexual intercourse.
   • 1927, Havelock Ellis, Studies in the Psychology of Sex, Volume 1 (of 6)‎^[1]:

     Welsh ponies, I learn from a man who has had much experience with these animals, habitually produce erections and emissions in their stalls; they do not bring their hind quarters up during this process, and they close their eyes, which does not take place when they have congress with mares.

Synonyms

• (legislative body) assembly, legislature, parliament
• (association) federation

Derived terms

Derived terms

• congress gaiter, congress shoe
• congressional, congressionally

• congressman
• Congress Party

Translations

legislative body

• Albanian: kongres (sq) m
• Amharic: ምክር ቤት (məkr bet)
• Arabic: (US Congress) كُونْجْرِس‎ m (kōngris, kungris), كُونْغْرِس‎ m (kunḡris)

  Hijazi Arabic: كُونْقْرِس‎ m (kōngris)

• Armenian: կոնգրես (hy) (kongres)
• Azerbaijani: konqres
• Belarusian: кангрэ́с m (kanhrés)
• Bengali: কংগ্রেস (bn) (kôṅgreś)
• Bulgarian: конгре́с (bg) m (kongrés)
• Burmese: ကွန်ဂရက် (my) (kwan-ga.rak)
• Catalan: congrés (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 代表大會, 代表大会 (dàibiǎo dàhuì), 國會 (zh), 国会 (zh) (guóhuì)

• Czech: kongres (cs) m
• Danish: kongres (da) c
• Dutch: congres (nl) n
• Estonian: kongress
• Finnish: kongressi (fi), eduskunta (fi)
• French: congrès (fr) m
• Georgian: კონგრესი (ḳongresi)
• German: Kongress (de) m
• Greek: κογκρέσο (el) n (kogkréso)
• Hausa: majalisa (ha)
• Hebrew: קוֹנְגְּרֶס‎ m (kongrés)
• Hindi: कांग्रेस (hi) f (kāṅgres)
• Hungarian: kongresszus (hu)
• Icelandic: þing (is) n
• Indonesian: kongres (id)
• Irish: comhdháil f
• Italian: congresso (it) m
• Japanese: 議会 (ja) (ぎかい, gikai), 国会 (ja) (こっかい, kokkai)
• Kazakh: конгресс (kongress)
• Khmer: រដ្ឋសភា (km) (rŏətthaʼsaʼphiə)
• Korean: 의회(議會) (ko) (uihoe)

• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: کۆنگرا‎ (kongra)

  Northern Kurdish: kongre (ku)

• Kyrgyz: конгресс (ky) (qongress)
• Lao: ລັດຖະສະພາ (lat tha sa phā), ຣັຖສະພາ (rat sa phā)
• Latvian: kongress m
• Lithuanian: kongresas m
• Macedonian: конгрес m (kongres)
• Malay: kongres
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: kongress (no) m

  Nynorsk: kongress m

• Pashto: کانګرس‎ m (kāngrés)
• Persian: کنگره‎ (fa) (kongre)
• Polish: kongres (pl) m
• Portuguese: congresso (pt) m
• Romanian: congres (ro) n
• Russian: конгре́сс (ru) m (kongréss)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: ко̀нгрес m

  Roman: kòngres (sh) m

• Slovak: kongres m
• Slovene: kongres (sl) m
• Spanish: congreso (es) m
• Swedish: kongress (sv) c
• Tagalog: kongreso (tl), batasang-bansa
• Tajik: конгресс (kongress)
• Thai: รัฐสภา (th) (rát-tà-sà-paa)
• Turkish: kongre (tr)
• Turkmen: kongress
• Ukrainian: конгре́с (uk) m (konhrés)
• Urdu: کانگریس‎ f (kāngres)
• Uzbek: kongress (uz)
• Vietnamese: quốc hội (vi) (國會)
• Yiddish: קאָנגרעס‎ m (kongres)
• Zulu: ukhongolose 1a or 2a

conference

• Arabic: مُؤْتَمَر‎ m (muʾtamar), اِجْتِمَاع‎ (ar) m (ijtimāʿ)
• Armenian: համագումար (hy) (hamagumar), կոնգրես (hy) (kongres)
• Azerbaijani: qurultay (az)
• Basque: batzar
• Belarusian: з'езд m (zʺjezd)
• Bulgarian: конгре́с (bg) m (kongrés), конфере́нция (bg) f (konferéncija)
• Burmese: ကွန်ဂရက် (my) (kwan-ga.rak)
• Catalan: congrés (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 大會 (zh), 大会 (zh) (dàhuì)

• Czech: kongres (cs) m, sjezd (cs) m
• Dutch: congres (nl) n, conferentie (nl)
• Finnish: kongressi (fi)
• French: congrès (fr) m
• Georgian: ყრილობა (q̇riloba), კონგრესი (ḳongresi)
• German: Kongress (de) m, Tagung (de) f
• Greek: συνέδριο (el) n (synédrio)
• Hebrew: כֶּנֶס‎ (he) m (kénes)
• Hungarian: kongresszus (hu)
• Japanese: 会議 (ja) (かいぎ, kaigi)
• Kazakh: құрылтай (qurıltay)
• Korean: 대회(大會) (ko) (daehoe), 회의(會議) (ko) (hoe'ui)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: کۆنگرا‎ (kongra)

  Northern Kurdish: kongre (ku)

• Macedonian: конгрес m (kongres)
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: их хурал (ikh khural), хурал (mn) (khural)

• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: kongress (no) m

  Nynorsk: kongress m

• Pashto: کنفرانس‎ m (kanfarãns)
• Persian: کنفرانس‎ (fa) (konferâns)
• Polish: zjazd (pl) m
• Portuguese: congresso (pt) m
• Romanian: congres (ro) n
• Russian: конгре́сс (ru) m (kongréss), съезд (ru) m (sʺjezd), конфере́нция (ru) f (konferéncija)
• Scottish Gaelic: còmhdhail f
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: ко̀нгрес m

  Roman: kòngres (sh) m

• Slovak: zjazd m
• Slovene: kongres (sl) m
• Spanish: congreso (es) m
• Swedish: kongress (sv) c
• Tagalog: kongreso (tl)
• Tatar: корылтай (tt) (qorıltay)
• Turkish: konferans (tr)
• Turkmen: gurultaý
• Ukrainian: з'їзд (uk) m (zʺjizd)
• Uzbek: qurultoy (uz), syezd
• Vietnamese: đại hội (vi) (大會)
• Yiddish: קאָנגרעס‎ m (kongres)

association

• Finnish: liitto (fi), keskusliitto
• Japanese: 会議 (ja) (かいぎ, kaigi)
• Korean: 협의회(協議會) (hyeobuihoe), 연합회(聯合會) (yeonhaphoe), 련합회(聯合會) (ryeonhaphoe) (North Korea)

• Romanian: congres (ro) n, partid (ro) n
• Ukrainian: конґрес m (kongres)

sexual intercourse — see sexual intercourse

Verb

congress (third-person singular simple present congresses, present participle congressing, simple past and past participle congressed)

1. (intransitive) To assemble together.
2. To meet in a congress.