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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

But defeating Lawler is a top priority for other Democrats, including Assemblymember Didi Barrett, who said she’d seen him be “a real jerk,” in the state assembly.

From Salon ● Nov. 1, 2026

It was also the 285th spacewalk conducted to support the assembly, maintenance, and improvement of the International Space Station.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 30, 2026

Other robots are used in the manufacture of metal parts, but many assembly operations are still performed by hand.

From Barron's ● Oct. 28, 2026

Forsythe is an assembly member for the South Down constituency and part of the DUP's party officer team.

From BBC ● Oct. 27, 2026

And when the party entered the assembly room it consisted of only five altogether; Mr. Bingley, his two sisters, the husband of the eldest, and another young man.

From "Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen

As a high-school student, I’ve been pushing for a bill that would write these rules into Illinois ethics law and apply them to the General Assembly.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 3, 2026

When Karen Bass was first elected to the California state Assembly in 2004, Nithya Raman was halfway across the world, fresh out of college and working in the slums of Delhi, India.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 2, 2026

Both the shouting and the cellphone episodes took place inside the U.N.’s famous General Assembly Hall but at different locations.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 29, 2026

Nepal's Prime Minister Balendra Shah raised the dangers of climate change at his recent UN General Assembly speech, where he said his country was paying a "colossal price" for a crisis it did not create.

From BBC ● Oct. 28, 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

Belgrade saw one of its biggest ever protests in March 2025, and while the leaderless student movement increased in strength, they organised themselves through student assemblies or plenums.

From BBC ● Oct. 22, 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

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

I carry equipment to school rallies and assemblies, I move desks for teachers, and I help out the maintenance staff with stuff like moving bleachers or rolling out the big garbage bins on trash day.

From "Marcus Vega Doesn't Speak Spanish" by Pablo Cartaya

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