come together vs integrate
Come together and integrate both bring things into one, with a difference in depth. Come together is the plain phrase for separate people or things uniting, often in a shared effort. Integrate is to bring parts into a whole so that they work together as one, or to bring someone into full, equal membership. Come together unites; integrate makes the parts work or belong as one.
Quick rule: separate people or things unite, often in shared effort → come together; fit parts into one working whole, or bring into full membership → integrate.
Five players walk in from every edge of the field until they close into a tight ring with no gaps; one by one their hands come down onto a single stack at the centre, palm over palm, a warm light kicking up beneath — for one breath not five people but one held thing, which gives a small pump and then lets go.
/ˌkʌm təˈɡeðər//ˌkʌm təˈɡeðə/·phrasal verbA row of gears sits dead with one empty place; a loose gear rises into the gap and its teeth catch the two beside it — and the instant it fits, the whole row begins to turn together, one motion end to end. It didn't merely join the row; it made the row work.
/ˈɪntɪɡreɪt//ˈɪntɪɡreɪt/·verbBoth end in a union, but one states it plainly and the other makes it function. Come together is the everyday phrase for separate people or things joining — a team, a community, a plan. Integrate, from integrare 'to make whole', fits parts so they operate as one system, or brings a person into full membership of a society. A community comes together after a disaster; new arrivals integrate into it over years. One unites, often warmly; the other makes the union work and belong.
What each means
come together
To come together is for separate people or things to move into one — to unite, converge, or combine — often after being apart or at odds. It is the plain, warm counterpart to its Latinate synonyms: where a committee might 'convene', friends, teams and communities simply come together. The sense is usually of willed, cooperative union: people come together in a crisis, a plan comes together, a band comes together. As a phrasal verb it is intransitive (people come together); the related noun is a get-together or a coming-together.
integrate
To integrate is to bring parts together so they function as one whole — from the Latin integrare, 'to make whole'. New software integrates with your calendar; a recruit integrates into a team; separated groups integrate into shared, equal community life. What is integrated stops being an add-on and becomes a working part of the system, the way a gear that meshes lets the whole train turn. It is stronger than to combine: the parts do not just sit together, they work together.
At a glance
| come together | integrate | |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning | unite into one, often in shared effort | fit parts into one working whole; include |
| Depth | the plain fact of uniting | the parts work or belong as one |
| Register | plain, everyday | formal; also social and technical |
| Often with | people, a team, a community, a plan | systems, communities, data, immigrants |
| Noun | (a) coming together | integration |
| Example | The town came together. | Integrate the systems. |
How to remember the difference
Ask whether the union is simply made or made to work. Come together is the plain uniting — players closing into one ring, hands stacked at the centre. Integrate goes deeper, fitting the parts so they function as one — a gear setting the whole row turning — or bringing someone in as a full member. If people or things simply unite, they come together; if parts are fitted so they work or belong as one, that is integrate.
Examples
come together
- The whole town came together to rebuild the school.
- The band came together again after ten years apart.
- Their ideas came together into a single plan.
integrate
- The company integrated the new software into its systems.
- Schools help newcomers integrate into the community.
- The report integrates data from a dozen sources.
Come together is plain and often about people uniting, especially in shared feeling; integrate is deeper and more formal, insisting the parts work as one, and carries a social sense of inclusion. A community can come together in a crisis without immigrants being fully integrated into it. One unites; the other makes the union function and belong.
FAQ
- What is the difference between come together and integrate?
- Come together is the plain phrase for separate people or things uniting, often in a shared effort, while integrate is to bring parts into a whole so they work together as one, or to bring someone into full, equal membership. Come together unites; integrate makes the parts work or belong as one. In the scenes above, five players close into one ring, while a gear drops into a dead row and sets the whole line turning.
- Are come together and integrate interchangeable?
- Only loosely. Come together states that people or things unite, often warmly; integrate insists the parts then work as one, and can mean social inclusion on equal terms. A town comes together after a flood; migrants integrate into a society over years. So come together is the plain fact of uniting, integrate the deeper working or belonging.
- What does it mean to integrate into a society?
- To become a full, participating member of a community — sharing its language, customs and life on equal terms. Come together catches only the uniting, not the lasting membership: a crowd can come together for a day, but integrating takes root over time. So integrate is the deeper, more durable belonging.
- Does integrate mean the parts work together?
- Yes — that is its defining edge. To integrate parts is to fit them so they function as one, like the gear that makes the whole row turn in the scene above. Come together promises only that people or things unite, not that they work as one system. So integrate is the stronger claim: united and functioning together.
- How do you use come together in a sentence?
- As a phrasal verb with no object: 'the team came together', 'their plans came together at last'. It describes separate people or things uniting. Integrate takes an object — you integrate the systems, or someone integrates into a group — because it names a deeper fitting-together. The grammar reflects the difference: one simply happens, the other is worked at.
- Which word fits a town uniting after a flood?
- Come together. A town comes together after a flood — people uniting in shared effort, as the players close into one ring in the scene above. Integrate would suggest the deeper, lasting work of making people part of one working society. The tell is depth: come together for a plain uniting, integrate for a working, belonging whole.
- Which word fits migrants becoming part of a society?
- Integrate. Migrants integrate into a society when they become full, participating members on equal terms — a lasting, working belonging, like the gear that makes the row turn in the scene above. 'Come together' would describe a briefer uniting. The tell is depth and duration: integrate for full membership, come together for a plain uniting.