1. The act of assembling.
2. A body of assembled people or things; a gathering.
3. 1. A group of people gathered for religious worship.
   2. The members of a specific religious group who regularly worship at a church or synagogue.
4. Roman Catholic Church.
   1. A religious institute in which only simple vows, not solemn vows, are taken.
   2. A division of the Curia.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.