different between congress vs league

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): /?k?????s/, /-??s/
  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?k??????s/
• (verb:)
  • IPA^(key): /k?n????s/, /k??????s/

Noun

congress (countable and uncountable, plural congresses)

1. (archaic) A coming together of two or more people; a meeting.
   • , 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.

Synonyms

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

Derived terms

Translations

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.

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /li??/
• Rhymes: -i??

Etymology 1

From Middle English liege, ligg, lige (“a pact between governments, an agreement, alliance”), from Middle French ligue, from Italian lega, from the verb legare, from Latin lig? (“I tie”).

Noun

league (plural leagues)

1. A group or association of cooperating members.
   • 1668, John Denham, The Passion of Dido for Aeneas

     And let there be / 'Twixt us and them no league, nor amity.

2. (sports) An organization of sports teams which play against one another for a championship.

3. (informal, rugby) Ellipsis of rugby league

4. (often in the negative) A class or type of people or things that are evenly matched or on the same level.

5. A prefecture-level administrative unit in Inner Mongolia (Chinese: ?).

Derived terms

Related terms

• ally
• alliance

Descendants

• ? Japanese: ??? (r?gu)
• ? Korean: ?? (rigeu)

Translations

Verb

league (third-person singular simple present leagues, present participle leaguing, simple past and past participle leagued)

1. To form an association; to unite in a league or confederacy; to combine for mutual support.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of South to this entry?)

Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English lege (“league”), from Late Latin leuca, leuga (“the Gaulish mile”), from Gaulish, from Proto-Celtic *lewg? (compare Middle Breton leau, Welsh lew, Breton lev / leo (“league”)).

Noun

league (plural leagues)

1. (measurement) The distance that a person can walk in one hour, commonly taken to be approximately three English miles (about five kilometers).
   • 1751-1753, Antoine-Simon Le Page du Pratz, History of Louisiana (PG), p. 47

     Seven leagues above the mouth of the river we meet with two other passes, as large as the middle one by which we entered.
2. A stone erected near a public road to mark the distance of a league.

Translations

References

• Douglas Harper (2001–2021) , “league”, in Online Etymology Dictionary
• Middle English Dictionary, lege