gather
/ˈɡæðɚ/verb, noun
gather is spelled G-A-T-H-E-R: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 17 times per million words in written English, the 4,752nd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, gather means “To collect normally separate things” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in gather?
| Letters | 6: G-A-T-H-E-R |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 17 times per million words; the 4,752nd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is gather?
Gather appears 17 times per million words in written English, the 4,752nd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce gather?
- UK /ˈɡæðə/
- British /ˈɡaðə/
- US /ˈɡæðɚ/
Gather has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-gather.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with gather?
2 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as gather from its last stressed vowel (/æðəɹ/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of gather
- gathers present, singular, he/she/it, plural
- gathering participle, present
- gathered participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does gather mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To collect normally separate things.
I've been gathering ideas from the people I work with.
- 2
Especially, to harvest food.
We went to gather some blackberries from the nearby lane.
- 3
To accumulate over time, to amass little by little.
Over the years he'd gathered a considerable collection of mugs.
- 4
To congregate, or assemble.
People gathered round as he began to tell his story.
- 5
To grow gradually larger by accretion.
- 6
To bring parts of a whole closer.
She gathered the shawl about her as she stepped into the cold.
- 7
To add pleats or folds to a piece of cloth, normally to reduce its width.
A gown should be gathered around the top so that it will remain shaped.
- 8
To bring stitches closer together.
Be careful not to stretch or gather your knitting.
noun
- 1
A plait or fold in cloth, made by drawing a thread through it; a pucker.
- 2
The inclination forward of the axle journals to keep the wheels from working outward.
- 3
The soffit or under surface of the masonry required in gathering. See gather.
- 4
A blob of molten glass collected on the end of a blowpipe.
- 5
A gathering.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Gather in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | rassembler, ramasser, recueillir , s'assembler, se rassembler |
| German | sammeln, versammeln , zusammenfinden |
| Portuguese | coletar, juntar, amontoar, coligir , colher |
| Spanish | juntar, recoger, recabar, recabdar, allegar, yuntar |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does gather come from?
From Middle English gaderen, from Old English gaderian (“to gather, assemble”), from Proto-West Germanic *gadurōn (“to bring together, unite, gather”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰedʰ- (“to unite, assemble, keep”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).