assembly English · revision 4344

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1300|origins=fro asembler}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /əˈsem.bli/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|assemblee]],^(MWU 2024) [[bor|fro|asemblee|t=gathering; union, marriage]], assemblee,^(Etymonline)^(NODE 1998) the noun use of the feminine past participle of asembler “to assemble”,^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002)^(MWU 2024) the source of [[assemble]].^(Etymonline)^(NODE 1998)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A gathering of persons, a group met for some purpose: about 1300 in Etymonline,^(Etymonline) 1330 in the OED.^(OED 1989) The coming together of two persons or things, a union, is from about 1325.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ A hostile meeting, an onslaught, is from 1375, now obsolete.^(OED 1989) “A gathering for deliberation” is from the mid-14th century, hence the name of the lower house in some American colonial and state legislatures, from the 1680s.^(Etymonline) The general sense “a gathering together” is from 1413 in the OED,^(OED 1989) the early 15th century in Etymonline.^(Etymonline) In the 17th and 18th centuries assemblies were also subscription balls among polite society.^(Etymonline) The action of putting together the parts of a machine, and the ''assembly line'', are from 1914,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) and the school assembly, a gathering of all the students, from 1932.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1300 – a gathering of persons.^(Etymonline)

+ * c. 1325 – a union.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1375 – a hostile meeting.^(OED 1989)

+ * mid-14th century – a deliberative body.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1413 – a gathering together.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1680s – the lower house of a legislature.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1914 – putting together parts, and the ''assembly line''.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1932 – a school assembly.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A group of people gathered for a common purpose, as for [[worship]], [[legislation]] or entertainment.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A [[legislature]], especially the lower house in some American states.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # The act of assembling, or the state of being assembled.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # The putting together of manufactured parts, or the parts so put together.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A meeting of the students of a school.^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A military signal calling troops to assemble.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[assemblyman]]

+ * [[assemblyperson]]

+ * [[assemblywoman]]

+ * [[preassembly]]

+ * [[reassembly]]

+ * [[subassembly]]

+ * [[self-assembly]]

+ * [[assembly line]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[assemble]]

+ * [[assemblage]]

+ * [[assembler]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}