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Webster 1913 Edition

Convention

Con-ven′tion

,
Noun.
[L.
conventio
: cf. F.
convention
. See
Convene
,
Verb.
I.
]
1.
The act of coming together; the state of being together; union; coalition.
The
conventions
or associations of several particles of matter into bodies of any certain denomination.
Boyle.
2.
General agreement or concurrence; arbitrary custom; usage; conventionality.
There are thousands now
Such women, but
convention
beats them down.
Tennyson.
3.
A meeting or an assembly of persons, esp. of delegates or representatives, to accomplish some specific object, – civil, social, political, or ecclesiastical.
He set himself to the making of good laws in a grand
convention
of his nobles.
Sir R. Baker.
A
convention
of delegates from all the States, to meet in Philadelphia, for the sole and express purpose of reserving the federal system, and correcting its defects.
W. Irving.
4.
(Eng. Hist)
An extraordinary assembly of the parkiament or estates of the realm, held without the king’s writ, – as the assembly which restored Charles II. to the throne, and that which declared the throne to be abdicated by James II.
Our gratitude is due . . . to the Long Parliament, to the
Convention
, and to William of Orange.
Macaulay.
5.
An agreement or contract less formal than, or preliminary to, a treaty; an informal compact, as between commanders of armies in respect to suspension of hostilities, or between states; also, a formal agreement between governments or sovereign powers;
as, a postal
convention
between two governments
.
This
convention
, I think from my soul, is nothing but a stipulation for national ignominy; a truce without a suspension of hostilities.
Ld. Chatham.
The
convention
with the State of Georgia has been ratified by their Legislature.
T. Jefferson.

Webster 1828 Edition

Convention

CONVENTION

,
Noun.
[L. See Convene.]
1.
The act of coming together; a meeting of several persons or individuals.
2.
Union; coalition.
3.
An assembly. In this sense, the word includes any formal meeting or collection of men for civil or ecclesiastical purposes; particularly an assembly of delegates or representatives for consultation on important concerns, civil, political or ecclesiastical. In Great Britain, convention is the name given to an extraordinary assembly of the estates of the realm, held without the kings writ; as the assembly which restored Charles II. to the throne, and that which declared the throne to be abdicated by James II. In the United States, this name is given to the assembly of representatives which forms a constitution of government, or political association; as the convention which formed the constitution of the United States in 1787.
4.
An agreement or contract between two parties, as between the commanders of two armies; an agreement previous to a definitive treaty.

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