convention

Pronunciation

• IPA: /kənˈven.ʃən/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English convencioun, borrowed from Middle French convention and directly from Latin conventiō (“a meeting, assembly; an agreement”),^[2][3] from the past participle of convenīre “to come together, agree”,^[2][4] formed from con- and venīre “to come”,^[2] the source of convene.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A formal agreement or covenant, and a meeting, originally of princes and rulers: the early 15th century in Etymonline, before 1420 in Barnhart, in Lydgate's Troy Book.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

In diplomacy it meant an agreement between states from the mid-15th century, and between opposing commanders from 1780.^[2] A formal assembly with a common purpose is from the mid-16th century (1552 in the OED),^[2][5] and in English history the Convention Parliaments were extraordinary sittings such as that of 1660.^[5] In America conventions are recorded from the 1720s, and party nominating meetings by 1817.^[2] The social sense, general agreement on customs and accepted standards, is by 1747, and a rule based on such agreement from 1790;^[2] its disapproving use, implying artificial behaviour, is by 1847.^[2] The newer sense of a fan or trade gathering is in Collins and MWU.^[6][4]

Timeline

• c. 1420 – an agreement.^[3]
• 1552 – a formal assembly.^[5]
• 1747 – general agreement on customs.^[2]
• 1780 – an agreement between commanders.^[2]
• 1817 – a party nominating meeting.^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. An accepted way of behaving or doing something; a custom.
2. A large formal meeting of people from the same profession, party or interest.
3. A formal agreement between countries; a treaty.
4. A usual method or style in art or writing.

Word family

• conventioner
• counterconvention
• miniconvention
• postconvention
• preconvention
• proconvention
• reconvention
• conventional

Related words

• convene
• convent
• convenient
• conventicle
• coven
• covenant

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins