convene

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French convenir, from Latin convenio, convenire (“come together”), from con- (“with, together”) +‎ veniō (“come”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʷm̥yéti, from the root *gʷem-.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈkɒn.viːn/, /kənˈviːn/

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Verb

convene (third-person singular simple present convenes, present participle convening, simple past and past participle convened)

1. (intransitive) To come together; to meet; to unite.
   • 1704, I[saac] N[ewton], “(please specify |book=1 to 3)”, in Opticks: Or, A Treatise of the Reflexions, Refractions, Inflexions and Colours of Light. , London: Sam Smith, and Benj Walford, printers to the Royal Society, , →OCLC:

     In short-sighted men […] the rays converge and convene in the eyes before they come at the bottom.

2. (intransitive) To come together, as in one body or for a public purpose; to meet; to assemble.
   • 1670, Richard Baker, A Chronicle of the Kings of England from the Time of the Romans Government unto the Death of King James:

     The Parliament of Scotland now convened.

   • 1727, James Thomson, “Summer”, in The Seasons, London: A Millar, and sold by Thomas Cadell, , published 1768, →OCLC:

     Faint, underneath, the household fowls convene.

4. (transitive) To cause to assemble; to call together; to convoke.
5. (transitive) To summon judicially to meet or appear.
6. (transitive, with "on" or "upon") To make a convention; to declare a rule by convention.

   To forestall any problems, we convened on the rule that all the database records would avoid containing certain literal strings.

Synonyms

• meet
• assemble
• congregate
• collect
• unite
• summon
• convoke

Derived terms

• convener, convenor
• reconvene
• unconvene

Related terms

• convention

Translations