gemeente, noun

/xəˈmɪəntə/
Origin:
Afrikaans.
The congregation or parish of a Dutch Reformed church.
1949 L.G. Green In Land of Afternoon 18The ministers of this Dutch Reformed Church liked the place so much that from that day (sc. 1825) to this, only one has been called away. First in this pleasant gemeente was the Rev. J.J. Beck.
1955 A. Delius Young Trav. in S. Afr. 103‘The Government has got nothing to do with the churches in this country’, said Oom Thys. ‘The gemeente — the congregation — pays him.’
1965 C. Van Heyningen Orange Days 10The Boers had large farms and some of the ‘gemeente’ lived some distance from the dorp and had to be visited by the predikant.
1976 Sunday Times 1 Aug. 14The saga of the Kameeldrif gemeente is yet another frightening sign of the Government’s Canute-like stand in the face of rising Black disaffection.
1988 Darby & Maxwell in Laband & Haswell Pietermaritzburg 1838–1988 169Expansion of the Dutch Reformed church has been noticeable since the war years...In more recent years gemeentes have been established in Prestbury, Napierville..and Hayfields.
The congregation or parish of a Dutch Reformed church.
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Afrikaans
gem, nounn.gemors, nounn.
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