Assembly

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /əˈsɛmb.lɪ/

Definitions

1. A group of people gathered together for a specific purpose, or the process of putting parts together to create something
2. A gathering of individuals for a particular reason or the process of combining various parts to form a whole object
3. An organized gathering of individuals for discussion or decision-making ; the process of joining components to build a complete item

Etymology: The word "assembly" comes to English through Middle English "assemblee," borrowed from Anglo-Norman "asemblee," which descends from Old French "asemblee" and modern French "assemblée." The Old French form is itself built from "assembler," meaning to bring together, and that verb traces back to the Latin "simul," meaning "together," the same root that gives English "simultaneous" and "similar." So at the heart of the word is the idea of things being put together at the same time or in the same place. Its surface shape looks like "assemble" plus the suffix "-y," and that analysis is a reasonable guide to how English speakers have felt it, but the suffix was not added in English. The noun came into the language already shaped as it is, carried over from French, so the English noun and verb grew up as a pair that shared the same underlying meaning of gathering things into one place.

Synonyms: gathering, meeting, convention, congregation

Antonyms: dispersal, separation