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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

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Etymology

Origin of assembly

1275–1325; Middle English assemblee < Middle French, literally, (that which is) assembled, feminine past participle of assembler to assemble

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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

They are also relatively light, and there’s no assembly required: You simply pull each section out of its box and let it expand.

From MarketWatch ● Nov. 9, 2026

That allows engineers to reduce the amount of supporting structure needed, potentially making the entire assembly substantially lighter.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 9, 2026

An estimated 400 unopened letters were handed in to a Northern Ireland assembly member's office after being found "dumped" outside Londonderry, on Wednesday.

From BBC ● Nov. 5, 2026

She was an effective assembly member and congress member.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 5, 2026

Mine was too short at the wrists 'cause Mama had bought it the year before for me to wear on special occasions like school assembly and church.

From "Miracle's Boys" by Jacqueline Woodson

It was due to begin its final stage in the Northern Ireland Assembly later on Tuesday.

From BBC ● Nov. 10, 2026

She told Northern Ireland Assembly members at the 22 October meeting that there "wasn't a huge uptake in the service" and that it "wasn't having a huge impact".

From BBC ● Nov. 6, 2026

Throughout a life in politics, he racked up offices and distinctions: state treasurer, judge, state senator and Assembly member, and the first Latino that California sent to Congress, after his governorship.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 4, 2026

That same year, Cruz Bustamante became the first Latino Assembly speaker, then lieutenant governor — the first Latino elected to statewide office in California since Pacheco ascended to the same position in the 1870s.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 4, 2026

A few weeks after the show, Mrs. Rappaport announced another project—a class election for someone to represent the sixth grade at the Christmas Assembly.

From "In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson" by Bette Bao Lord

Their decentralized assemblies made it difficult for the government to target a single leader or cut a deal to stop the campaign.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 1, 2026

Instead of running for office themselves, student-led assemblies at the country's university faculties have chosen 250 candidates to stand in the parliamentary election, with Srdanović, professor at Novi Sad University, heading the list.

From BBC ● Oct. 23, 2026

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

The study, published in Nature, examined 103 bat genomes, including 42 newly generated chromosome-level assemblies, covering all 21 recognized bat families.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 30, 2026

Every February my classmates and I were herded into assemblies for a ritual review of the Civil Rights Movement.

From "Between the World and Me" by Ta-Nehisi Coates

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