gather
Synonyms:
(verb) accumulate, accrete, amass, assemble, assume, bulk (up), collect, concentrate, congregate, constellate, corral, crop, garner, glean, group, hoard, infer, lump, pick up, pluck, reap, round up, understand,
Related Words:
assemble, choose, cluster, collect, conclude, congregate, convene, converge, crowd, draw, expect, flock, hear, huddle, learn, make, meet, pick, round up, show up.
Antonyms:
dispel, disperse, dissipate, scatter, separate.
Synonym Study 1 (Dictionary.com):
Gather, assemble, collect, muster, and marshal imply bringing or drawing together.
Gather expresses the general idea usually with no implication of arrangement:
to gather seashells.
Assemble is used of objects or facts brought together preparatory to arranging them:
to assemble data for a report.
Collect implies purposeful accumulation to form an ordered whole:
to collect evidence.
Muster, primarily a military term, suggests thoroughness in the process of collection:
to muster all one's resources.
Marshal, another term primarily military, suggests rigorously ordered, purposeful arrangement:
to marshal facts for effective presentation.
Synonym Study 2 (Merriam-Webster):
Gather, collect, assemble, and congregate mean to come or bring together into a group, mass, or unit.
Gather is the most general term for bringing or coming together from a spread-out or scattered state:
a crowd quickly gathered.
Collect often implies careful selection or orderly arrangement:
collected books on gardening.
Assemble implies an ordered union or organization of persons or things often for a definite purpose:
experts assembled for a conference.
Congregate implies a spontaneous flocking together into a crowd or huddle:
congregating under a shelter.
Synonym Study 2 (Merriam-Webster):
Infer, deduce, conclude, judge, and gather mean to arrive at a mental conclusion.
Infer implies arriving at a conclusion by reasoning from evidence; if the evidence is slight, the term comes close to surmise:
from that remark, I inferred that they knew each other.
Deduce often adds to infer the special implication of drawing a particular inference from a generalization:
denied we could deduce anything important from human mortality.
Conclude implies arriving at a necessary inference at the end of a chain of reasoning:
concluded that only the accused could be guilty.
Judge stresses a weighing of the evidence on which a conclusion is based:
judge people by their actions.
Gather suggests an intuitive forming of a conclusion from implications:
gathered their desire to be alone without a word.
Origin:
before 900; Middle English gaderen,Old English gaderian, derivative of geador together, akin to gæd fellowship; cf. together, good. Dictionary 2: Old English gadrian; related to Old Frisian gaderia, Middle Low German gaderen. —Dictionary.com. //
First Known Use of gather: Verb: before the 12th century. Noun: 1555. History and Etymology for gather: Verb: Middle English gaderen, from Old English gaderian; akin to Middle High German gadern to unite — more at good. Noun: derivative of gather entry 1. —Merriam-Webster.
Sources: 1, 2.
(verb) accumulate, accrete, amass, assemble, assume, bulk (up), collect, concentrate, congregate, constellate, corral, crop, garner, glean, group, hoard, infer, lump, pick up, pluck, reap, round up, understand,
Related Words:
assemble, choose, cluster, collect, conclude, congregate, convene, converge, crowd, draw, expect, flock, hear, huddle, learn, make, meet, pick, round up, show up.
Antonyms:
dispel, disperse, dissipate, scatter, separate.
Synonym Study 1 (Dictionary.com):
Gather, assemble, collect, muster, and marshal imply bringing or drawing together.
Gather expresses the general idea usually with no implication of arrangement:
to gather seashells.
Assemble is used of objects or facts brought together preparatory to arranging them:
to assemble data for a report.
Collect implies purposeful accumulation to form an ordered whole:
to collect evidence.
Muster, primarily a military term, suggests thoroughness in the process of collection:
to muster all one's resources.
Marshal, another term primarily military, suggests rigorously ordered, purposeful arrangement:
to marshal facts for effective presentation.
Synonym Study 2 (Merriam-Webster):
Gather, collect, assemble, and congregate mean to come or bring together into a group, mass, or unit.
Gather is the most general term for bringing or coming together from a spread-out or scattered state:
a crowd quickly gathered.
Collect often implies careful selection or orderly arrangement:
collected books on gardening.
Assemble implies an ordered union or organization of persons or things often for a definite purpose:
experts assembled for a conference.
Congregate implies a spontaneous flocking together into a crowd or huddle:
congregating under a shelter.
Synonym Study 2 (Merriam-Webster):
Infer, deduce, conclude, judge, and gather mean to arrive at a mental conclusion.
Infer implies arriving at a conclusion by reasoning from evidence; if the evidence is slight, the term comes close to surmise:
from that remark, I inferred that they knew each other.
Deduce often adds to infer the special implication of drawing a particular inference from a generalization:
denied we could deduce anything important from human mortality.
Conclude implies arriving at a necessary inference at the end of a chain of reasoning:
concluded that only the accused could be guilty.
Judge stresses a weighing of the evidence on which a conclusion is based:
judge people by their actions.
Gather suggests an intuitive forming of a conclusion from implications:
gathered their desire to be alone without a word.
Origin:
before 900; Middle English gaderen,Old English gaderian, derivative of geador together, akin to gæd fellowship; cf. together, good. Dictionary 2: Old English gadrian; related to Old Frisian gaderia, Middle Low German gaderen. —Dictionary.com. //
First Known Use of gather: Verb: before the 12th century. Noun: 1555. History and Etymology for gather: Verb: Middle English gaderen, from Old English gaderian; akin to Middle High German gadern to unite — more at good. Noun: derivative of gather entry 1. —Merriam-Webster.
Sources: 1, 2.