n. 1
A meeting or get-together; a party or social function.
I met her at a gathering of engineers and scientists.
n. 2
A group of people or things.
n. 3
A section, a group of bifolios, or sheets of paper, stacked together and folded in half.
This gathering machine forms the backbone of a bookbinding operation.

Related words

Phrases: data gathering

Forms

Plural: gatherings → assemblages, affairs, congregations, concourses…

Choose the right word

Gathering, Collection, Crowd, Group, Multitude or Assemblage?

Collection, crowd, gathering, group, and multitude have the unorganized and promiscuous character of the assemblage; the other terms come under the general idea of assembly. Gathering refers to a coming together, commonly of numbers, from far and near; as, the gathering of the Scottish clans.

J. C. Fernald, English Synonyms and Antonyms (1914)

Example sentences

assemblage The assemblage of musicians created a beautiful symphony.
congregation Ziri left and the rest of the congregation followed.
pustule A bright red pustule began forming on Haziq's nose during dinner.
meeting The date and place of the meeting have been fixed.
collection He couldn't calculate the price of the collection.
crowd The crowd protested against racial discrimination.

Popularity over time

Word	1850 → 2019	Trend
gathering		rising
assemblage		steady
congregation		rising
pustule		steady
meeting		falling
collection		steady

Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.

By length

4 letters: sore¹, boil¹, rout¹
5 letters: party², crowd¹, ulcer²
6 letters: affair², muster², fester²
7 letters: company³, meeting², cluster², abscess², pustule
8 letters: assembly³
9 letters: concourse², carbuncle
10 letters: collection³, convention³, assemblage³
11 letters: suppuration
12 letters: congregation⁴, accumulation⁵

The small number after each word is its number of syllables (party² = 2 syllables).

In other languages

Français: rassemblement
Italiano: assembramento
Català: aplec