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convention

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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
  • 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