forgather

F4O1R1G2A1T1H4E1R1
UK/fəˈɡaðə/US/fɚˈɡæðɚ/

verb

To assemble or gather together in one place, to gather up; to congregate.

Scrabble 16

Meanings

verbforgather (third-person singular simple present forgathers, present participle forgathering, simple past and past participle forgathered)

present singular third person forgathers · participle present forgathering · participle past forgathered · past forgathered · alternative foregather

  1. intransitiveTo assemble or gather together in one place, to gather up; to congregate.

    They found themselves obliged to forgather in Perugia, where few of them wished to be – least of all the French cardinals who would have preferred not to be in Italy at all.

    2007, Edwin Mullins, The Popes of Avignon, Blue Bridge, published 2008, page 8
    3 more examples

    Dean’s California—wild, sweaty, important, the land of lonely and exiled and eccentric lovers come to forgather like birds, and the land where everybody somehow looked like broken-down, handsome, decadent movie actors.

    1957 September 5, Jack Kerouac, chapter 9, in On the Road, New York, N.Y.: Viking Press, →OCLC, part 2

    “And she caught you?” “Not once, but twice.” [...] “Half-way under the dressing-table, were you?” “The second time. When we first forgathered, I was sitting on the floor with a chair round my neck.”

    1960, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, chapter XII, in Jeeves in the Offing, London: Herbert Jenkins, →OCLC

    “I can tell you where to find them,’ she said, ‘with a fair degree of certainty; they foregather almost every evening about this time at a rather disreputable old pub.’

    1982, Lawrence Durrell, Constance (Avignon Quintet), Faber & Faber, published 2004, page 725

    Synonyms: collect, begather

Synonyms & antonyms

verbTo assemble or gather together in one place, to gather up; to congregate.

More synonyms by meaning

verbcollect in one place

Broader

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Scotsforgather
  2. Englishforgather

From Scots forgather, foregather (“to gather up, assemble”), equivalent to for- + gather. Cognate with Dutch vergaderen (“to assemble”), German vergattern (“to assemble; to assign duty”).

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bulgarian събирам се, срещам се
  • събирам се (săbiram se)To assemble or gather together in one place
  • срещам се (sreštam se)To assemble or gather together in one place
  • общувам (obštuvam)To assemble or gather together in one place
French se réunir
  • se réunirTo assemble or gather together in one place
Polish gromadzić się, zgromadzić się
  • gromadzić sięTo assemble or gather together in one place
  • zgromadzić sięTo assemble or gather together in one place
Cite this entry
APA

forgather. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/forgather

MLA

“forgather.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/forgather. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “forgather,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/forgather.

Source: forgather on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.