congressional
Meaning
relating to a congress, especially the us congress
Structure
Usage
the congressional committee will hold hearings on the proposed legislation.
she has extensive experience in congressional affairs and policy.
the report was based on data from the congressional budget office.
Etymology
The word 'congressional' is built upon the core noun 'congress', which originates from the Latin verb 'congredi', meaning 'to come together' or 'to meet'. This verb itself is composed of 'con-' (together) and 'gradi' (to walk, step), painting a literal picture of people walking together to assemble. The suffix '-ion' was added to form the noun 'congressus', denoting the state or act of meeting. Finally, the adjectival suffix '-al' was appended, a common pattern in English for creating relational adjectives, to yield 'congressional', meaning 'pertaining to a formal assembly or congress'.
Analysis
congress (from latin 'congressus', meaning a meeting, assembly, from 'congredi' - to come together); ion (latin suffix forming nouns of action or state); al (latin suffix '-alis', forming adjectives meaning 'of, relating to')