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• assembly
  assembly

  noun

  an assembling or coming together of a number of persons, usually for a particular purpose.
• Assembly
  Assembly

  noun

  the 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

1. 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

2. a group of persons gathered together, usually for a particular purpose, whether religious, political, educational, or social.

   Synonyms:

   throng, meeting, congress, gathering, assemblage

3. (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

4. Military.

   1. a signal, as by drum or bugle, for troops to fall into ranks or otherwise assemble.

   2. the movement of forces, tanks, soldiers, etc., scattered by battle or battle drill, toward and into a small area.

5. the putting together of complex machinery, as airplanes, from interchangeable parts of standard dimensions.

6. Machinery. a group of machine parts, especially one forming a self-contained, independently mounted unit.

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assembly ¹ British  

/ əˈsɛmblɪ /

noun

1. a number of people gathered together, esp for a formal meeting held at regular intervals

2. the act of assembling or the state of being assembled

3. the process of putting together a number of parts to make a machine or other product

4. machinery a group of mating components before or after fitting together

5. military

   1. a signal for personnel to assemble, as by drum, bugle, etc

   2. ( as modifier )

      an assembly area

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Assembly ² British  

/ əˈsɛmblɪ /

noun

1. the lower chamber in various American state legislatures See also House of Assembly legislative assembly National Assembly

2. short for General Assembly

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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

• preassembly
  noun
• reassembly
  noun
• self-assembly
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• assemblies
  plural

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.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

assembly Assembly assemblies

Some plants may only perform final assembly while many of the components – especially batteries – may continue to come from China.

From BBC ● Sep. 22, 2026

The itinerary included multiple demonstrations of Chinese technological muscle, including an automated deep-water container port in Shanghai and the assembly line of jet maker Comac.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 22, 2026

On the sidelines of the general assembly on Tuesday, Trump signed an agreement with the leaders of Denmark and Greenland to beef up US military presence on the North Atlantic island.

From BBC ● Sep. 22, 2026

"Governments with the greatest AI capabilities have the greatest responsibilities to humanity, to establish channels for dialogue," Guterres said in his address to the assembly.

From Barron's

On Olympus the gods were met in full assembly.

From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton

Iranian officials unveiled the proposal during a week of diplomacy surrounding the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

From Salon ● Sep. 26, 2026

Three men were seen exiting a manhole near the hotel where Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was reportedly expected to stay for the United Nations General Assembly.

From BBC ● Sep. 25, 2026

The following day, CNN reporters were removed from a scheduled pool-coverage assignment at the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026

Earlier in the week, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent met with his Chinese counterpart primarily to discuss AI development, according to U.S. officials.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 24, 2026

“The Assembly has voted that there should be no unclaimed land left in all Hartford County.”

From "The Witch of Blackbird Pond" by Elizabeth George Speare

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

Chromosome-scale assemblies provide much more detail by arranging genes in their proper order across complete chromosomes.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 25, 2026

A compelling model comes from the burgeoning global movement of citizens’ assemblies — deliberative bodies in which a randomly selected, representative cross-section of the public is convened to consider complex policy questions.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 6, 2026

There were no farewell assemblies, no tearful speeches under a mango tree.

From BBC ● Jul. 4, 2026

The teachers herded us into a narrow, sandy courtyard where, I heard a veteran schoolgoer say, morning assemblies were held. announced the principal in a loud, excited voice.

From "Kaffir Boy: An Autobiography" by Mark Mathabane