assembly
noun
an assembling or coming together of a number of persons, usually for a particular purpose.
Jump To:
-
assembly
-
Assembly
Assemblynounthe lower chamber in various American state legislatures See also House of Assembly legislative assembly National Assembly
assembly
American
[uh-sem-blee]
/ əˈsɛm bli /
noun
-
assemblies
plural
-
an assembling or coming together of a number of persons, usually for a particular purpose.
The principal will speak to all the students at Friday's assembly.
- Synonyms:
- meeting, congress, gathering, assemblage
-
a group of persons gathered together, usually for a particular purpose, whether religious, political, educational, or social.
- Synonyms:
- throng, meeting, congress, gathering, assemblage
-
(often initial capital letter) a legislative body, especially the lower house of the legislature in certain states of the U.S..
a bill before the assembly; the New York State Assembly.
- Synonyms:
- congress
-
Military.
-
a signal, as by drum or bugle, for troops to fall into ranks or otherwise assemble.
-
the movement of forces, tanks, soldiers, etc., scattered by battle or battle drill, toward and into a small area.
-
-
the putting together of complex machinery, as airplanes, from interchangeable parts of standard dimensions.
-
Machinery. a group of machine parts, especially one forming a self-contained, independently mounted unit.
assembly
1
British
/ əˈsɛmblɪ /
noun
-
a number of people gathered together, esp for a formal meeting held at regular intervals
-
the act of assembling or the state of being assembled
-
the process of putting together a number of parts to make a machine or other product
-
machinery a group of mating components before or after fitting together
-
military
-
a signal for personnel to assemble, as by drum, bugle, etc
-
( as modifier )
an assembly area
-
Assembly
2
British
/ əˈsɛmblɪ /
noun
-
the lower chamber in various American state legislatures See also House of Assembly legislative assembly National Assembly
-
short for General Assembly
Usage
What does assembly mean? An assembly is a gathering of people, usually for some specific reason, as in The preacher gave a sermon before the assembly. Assembly is used to refer to a group of people who have gathered together. Usually, the people have a reason to come together such as for religious, political, or social purposes. Assembly can also refer to the gathering or coming together of people, as in The principal organized an assembly of all of the parents. Assembly can also refer to a legislative body in which politicians gather to perform the political process. In this case, assembly is often capitalized when it’s a part of the name of the body, as in The bill was discussed by the California State Assembly. Lastly, assembly can refer to the act of putting something together or fitting parts together, as in Jorge helped his granddaughter with the assembly of the model airplane. Assembly comes from the verb assemble, which usually means to gather things or people together, as in The players assembled into a group huddle. Example: The police chief spoke to an assembly of citizens concerned about theft in the neighborhood.
Synonym Usage
See convention.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of assembly
1275–1325; Middle English assemblee < Middle French, literally, (that which is) assembled, feminine past participle of assembler to assemble
Explanation
Use the noun assembly to refer group of people meeting up for a mutual purpose, such as a church service. Often used to describing a gathering of people, the word assembly can also refer to putting something together, such as a machine or a piece of furniture. No matter if the individual components are people or objects, assembly implies a bringing together. You may be familiar with the term "freedom of assembly," which is considered a basic human right. It means that people are free to peacefully gather together to protest the government, to worship, to hold a public meeting . . . or even to play poker. This allows people to exchange information and pursue mutual goals.
Vocabulary lists containing assembly
Ancient Greece - Introductory
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
"In the Spotlight," Vocabulary from the informational text
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Engineering - Introductory
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
"We're too late in the year for Christmas for the sector I'm in," he told assembly members.
From BBC ● Oct. 22, 2026
This is the first highly stable structure in the assembly process.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 22, 2026
The UN experts included the special rapporteurs on the right to freedom of opinion; on the independence of judges; on freedom of peaceful assembly; and on human rights defenders.
From Barron's ● Oct. 21, 2026
All the while, another machine consisting of a motor, a cylindrical blade assembly and a conveyor belt swallowed logs into one end and delivered a stream of wood chips out the other.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 21, 2026
Did she mess up last night at the midnight assembly?
From "The Marvellers" by Dhonielle Clayton
France’s National Assembly is scheduled to vote on the revenue section of the 2027 draft budget bill.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 20, 2026
Last quarter, the company shut down its Silao Assembly plant in Mexico for four weeks in preparation for making 2027 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 and GMC Sierra 1500 trucks there.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 20, 2026
She points out that she serves as the campaign manager for Eli Northrup, a non-DSA but progressive candidate who won his primary for a New York State Assembly seat.
From Slate ● Oct. 20, 2026
Sarah Hopkins started teaching in 1998 - a year before the Welsh Assembly, now the Senedd, took over responsibility for education in Wales from Westminster.
From BBC ● Oct. 15, 2026
A collective assent to this rumbled through the blurring atmosphere of the Assembly Room.
From "A Separate Peace" by John Knowles
A speech at the Pnyx, where Athenians once gathered for popular assemblies that birthed democracy, provided a perfect opportunity to link America First to ancient Greek statecraft.
From Salon ● Oct. 13, 2026
Reactor 2 was taken offline on August 4 for refuelling, during which 20 of the 121 fuel assemblies in the reactor core were replaced.
From Barron's ● Aug. 28, 2026
Producing these assemblies is considerably more difficult, and only recently have enough species been analyzed at this level to make a broad comparison across the animal kingdom possible.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 25, 2026
Perhaps the most impressive discoveries are animal “cities,” including two assemblies of octopuses, dubbed Octopolis and Octlantis, found off the east coast of Australia.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 19, 2026
In fact, for a moment, it was almost like we were listening to her again at one of her morning assemblies as she drifted off on tangents none of us could follow.
From "Never Let Me Go" by Kazuo Ishiguro
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
