A title meaning 'one who assembles' or 'one who convenes,' traditionally rendered 'the Preacher' (following Jerome's concionator and the Greek Ekklesiastes). The feminine morphology likely indicates an office or function rather than gender — comparable to Arabic khalifa ('caliph'). Used exclusively in Ecclesiastes (1:1, 2, 12; 7:27; 12:8, 9, 10) to identify the book's speaker, who is presented as a royal sage in Jerusalem. Whether the emphasis falls on assembling people (a convener) or assembling wisdom sayings (a collector) has been debated since antiquity.