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. 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

• Arabic: (US Congress) كُونْجْرِس‎ m (kungris), كُونْغْرِس‎ m (kunḡris)
• Armenian: կոնգրես (hy) (kongres)
• Belarusian: кангрэ́с m (kanhrés)
• Bulgarian: конгре́с (bg) m (kongrés)
• 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
• Dutch: congres (nl) n
• Finnish: kongressi (fi), eduskunta (fi)
• French: congrès (fr) m
• Georgian: კონგრესი (ḳongresi)
• German: Kongress (de) m
• Greek: * κογκρέσο (el) n (kogkréso)
• Hausa: majalisa (ha)
• Hindi: कांग्रेस (hi) f (kāṅgres)
• Hungarian: kongresszus (hu)
• Icelandic: þing (is) n
• Japanese: 議会 (ja) (ぎかい, gikai), 国会 (ja) (こっかい, kokkai)
• Korean: 의회 (ko) (uihoe)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: کۆنگرا‎ (ku) (kongra)

  Northern Kurdish: kongre (ku)

• Macedonian: конгрес m (kongres)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: kongress (no) m

  Nynorsk: kongress m

• Polish: kongres (pl) m
• Portuguese: congresso (pt) m
• Romanian: congres (ro) n
• Russian: конгре́сс (ru) m (kongréss)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: конгрес m

  Roman: kongres (sh) m

• Slovak: kongres m
• Slovene: kongres (sl) m
• Spanish: congreso (es) m
• Swedish: kongress (sv) c
• Tagalog: kongreso (tl), batasang-bansa
• Ukrainian: конгре́с (uk) m (konhrés)
• Vietnamese: quốc hội (vi)
• Yiddish: קאָנגרעס‎ m (kongres)
• Zulu: ukhongolose 1a or 2a

conference

• Arabic: مُؤْتَمَر‎ m (muʾtamar), اِجْتِمَاع‎ (ar) m (ijtimāʿ)
• Azerbaijani: qurultay (az)
• Basque: batzar
• Belarusian: з'езд m (zʺjezd)
• Bulgarian: конгре́с (bg) m (kongrés), конфере́нция (bg) f (konferéncija)
• 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)
• Korean: 대회 (ko) (daehoe), 회의 (ko) (hoe-ui)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: کۆنگرا‎ (ku) (kongra)

  Northern Kurdish: kongre (ku)

• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: kongress (no) m

  Nynorsk: kongress m

• 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: конгрес m

  Roman: kongres (sh) m

• Slovak: zjazd m
• Spanish: congreso (es) m
• Swedish: kongress (sv) c
• Tagalog: kongreso (tl)
• Ukrainian: з'їзд (uk) m (zʺjizd)
• Yiddish: קאָנגרעס‎ m (kongres)

association

• Finnish: liitto (fi), keskusliitto
• Japanese: 会議 (ja) (かいぎ, kaigi)
• Korean: 협의회 (hyeobuihoe), 연합회 (yeonhaphoe)

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

sexual intercourse — see sexual intercourse

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Slovak: ^{(please verify)} kongres m

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.