Con*ven"tion (?), n. [L.
conventio: cf. F. convention. See Convene,
v. 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.
