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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

GM in turn can keep its assembly lines moving amid supply-chain disruptions, without tying up large amounts of capital.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026

Speaking afterwards, Nesbitt said he did not believe there was "any imminent danger" of collapse of the executive and assembly.

From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2026

After the environmental test campaign is complete, Griffin-1 will return to Voyager's Lunar System Pittsburgh facility for final assembly.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 11, 2026

The company is preparing to ship three more satellites, while BlueBird 17 through BlueBird 46 are in various stages of production and assembly.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026

An ostentatious home thrown up in an assembly line fashion while you wait.

From "Dry" by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman

Assembly and integration are progressing as Intuitive Machines works toward the broader goal of providing regular cargo and science deliveries to the Moon.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 11, 2026

Within a few years, he was recruited to run for a San Gabriel Valley Assembly seat.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2026

She boasts that in the state Assembly she “wrote a bill to create publicly-owned grocery stores.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 9, 2026

Figuera heads the opposition bloc that won a majority in the 2015 National Assembly, the last legislature elected in a vote widely recognized by the international community.

From Barron's ● Aug. 6, 2026

Assembly was raucous, and Mother Lucy had to say, “Now, girls, may we have silence!” a few times.

From "Purple Hibiscus" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

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

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

Mr Ratcliffe told BBC Radio Merseyside his assemblies "have completely changed now off the back of this".

From BBC ● May 24, 2026

Japan's national association of town and village assemblies says it's rare for a no-confidence motion to be filed against a mayor due to illness.

From BBC ● May 9, 2026

The week after the community meeting, Ms. Habibi and Mr. Dolan started a bunch of assemblies the whole seventh grade had to attend.

From "Maybe He Just Likes You" by Barbara Dee