different between congregation vs council

English

Etymology

From Old French congregacion, from Latin congreg?ti?, itself from congreg? (“to herd into a flock”). Adopted c. 1340, by the English Bible translator William Tyndale, to render the Ancient Greek ???????? (ekkl?sía, “those called together, (popular) meeting”) (hence Latin eccl?sia) in his New Testament, and preferred by 16th century Reformers instead of church.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?k???????e???n/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?k???????e???n/
• Rhymes: -e???n
• Hyphenation: con?gre?ga?tion

Noun

congregation (countable and uncountable, plural congregations)

1. The act of congregating or collecting together.
2. A gathering of faithful in a temple, church, synagogue, mosque or other place of worship. It can also refer to the people who are present at a devotional service in the building, particularly in contrast to the pastor, minister, imam, rabbi etc. and/or choir, who may be seated apart from the general congregation or lead the service (notably in responsory form).
3. A Roman Congregation, a main department of the Vatican administration of the Catholic Church.
4. A corporate body whose members gather for worship, or the members of such a body.
5. Any large gathering of people.
6. A group of eagles.
7. (Britain, Oxford University) The main body of university staff, comprising academics, administrative staff, heads of colleges, etc.

Derived terms

• congregational
• congregationalism

Related terms

• congregant
• congregate
• congregator
• gregarious

Translations

English

Etymology

From Middle English counseil, conseil, from Anglo-Norman cuncile and Old French concile, from Latin concilium. Doublet of concelho.

Pronunciation

• enPR: koun?-s?l, IPA^(key): /?ka?n.s?l/
• Homophone: counsel

Noun

council (plural councils)

1. A committee that leads or governs (e.g. city council, student council).
2. Discussion or deliberation.

Hyponyms

• synod

Derived terms

Related terms

• conciliate
• reconcile

Translations

See also

• counsel