convention
Pluralconventions
- 1A gathering or assembly of people who come together in one place.
The annual teachers' convention drew educators from across the state.
Delegates mingled in the lobby before the convention began.
Similarconference, gathering, meeting, assembly, congress
Note
The word's history sits closest to the surface here. Latin conventiō meant "a meeting, an assembling," from conveniō, "come together," built from con- ("together") and veniō ("come"). English borrowed it from Middle French by about 1440. It is the same pairing as convene plus -tion, so a convention is literally a coming-together.
- 2A practice or procedure widely followed within a group, especially one that helps people interact smoothly; a custom.
Polite conversation follows certain conventions that vary from culture to culture.
It became a convention among the staff to share lunch on Fridays.
Similarcustom, practice, tradition, norm, rule
Note
Custom of this kind is usually unwritten. Table seatings are settled "by tacit convention, not binding formal protocol." Some conventions, like driving on the right, are later reinforced by law. Scholars use the word for agreed notation, as Andrew Radford's Transformational grammar (1988) does when parentheses mark an optional phrase. Common frames include tacit convention and the convention of doing something.
- 3A formal assembly of delegates who have been given authority to decide or act on behalf of those they represent.
The constitutional convention spent months debating each clause.
Each state sent delegates to the national convention.
Similarassembly, congress, council, conference
Note
Here the gathering has authority. Its members arrive as delegates carrying a mandate, and the body deliberates and decides rather than simply meeting. When it names one particular assembly it is often capitalized, as with the inter-institutional Convention the EU set up to draft a European constitution. To tell it apart from the general gathering, ask whether the people present speak for others.
- 4A formal agreement, contract, rule, or pact established between parties.
The guilds entered into a convention regulating prices and wages.
A convention between the rival firms set common standards for the industry.
Similaragreement, pact, compact, accord, covenant
Note
The agreement sense was already present in Latin, where conventiō meant an agreement as well as a meeting. It named what parties come together on, not only where they come together. In English it names something formally settled between parties, such as a pact among guilds or firms. Unlike the sense of custom, it is explicit and binding rather than tacit.
- 5A treaty between states, or an addition or supplement to an existing treaty.
The Geneva Convention sets out rules for the conduct of war.
Dozens of states ratified the climate convention last year.
Similartreaty, accord, pact, protocol, agreement
Note
International law uses the word for an agreement between states. It also uses it for an instrument added to an existing treaty. Particular conventions are often capitalized as names, like the Geneva Convention. The convention reached at the Vienna Congress of 1814–15 standardized diplomatic conduct for generations. These agreements can set lasting rules of practice, not just the terms of one settlement.
- 6The act of bringing together or summoning people for a formal meeting.
The convention of the assembly required a formal summons from the chair.
Delays in the convention of the committee postponed the vote.
Similarconvening, summoning, assembling
Oppositeadjournment, dissolution
Note
The -tion keeps its force as an action noun. This is convene turned into a noun: the summoning, rather than the assembly that is summoned. If "convening" could replace the word without changing the meaning, this is the sense. If the word names the meeting itself, it is the gathering.
Practice
Can you tell the meanings of convention apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.
Origin
Recorded since about 1440, it was borrowed from Middle French 'convention', from Latin 'conventiō' ("meeting, assembling; agreement"), which came from 'conveniō' ("to come or gather together"), formed from 'con-' ("together") plus 'veniō' ("come").