n. [ L. conventus a meeting, LL. also, a convent. See Convene, v. i. ] 1. A coming together; a meeting. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

A usual ceremony at their [ the witches ] convents or meetings. B. Jonson. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. An association or community of recluses devoted to a religious life; a body of monks or nuns. [ 1913 Webster ]

One of our convent, and his [ the duke's ] confessor. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A house occupied by a community of religious recluses; a monastery or nunnery. [ 1913 Webster ]

One seldom finds in Italy a spot of ground more agreeable than ordinary that is not covered with a convent. Addison.

Syn. -- Nunnery; monastery; abbey. See Cloister. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ L. conventus, p. p. of convenire. See Convene, v. i. ] 1. To meet together; to concur. [ obs. ] Beau. & Fl. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To be convenient; to serve. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

When that is known and golden time convents. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To call before a judge or judicature; to summon; to convene. [ Obs. ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Of or from, or pertaining to, a convent. “Conventical wages.” Sterne. [ 1913 Webster ]

Conventical prior. See Prior. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. conventiculum, dim. of conventus: cf. F. conventicule. See Convent, n. ] 1. A small assembly or gathering; esp., a secret assembly. [ 1913 Webster ]

They are commanded to abstain from all conventicles of men whatsoever. Ayliffe. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. An assembly for religious worship; esp., such an assembly held privately, as in times of persecution, by Nonconformists or Dissenters in England, or by Covenanters in Scotland; -- often used opprobriously, as if those assembled were heretics or schismatics. [ 1913 Webster ]

The first Christians could never have had recourse to nocturnal or clandestine conventicles till driven to them by the violence of persecution. Hammond. [ 1913 Webster ]

A sort of men who . . . attend its [ the curch of England's ] service in the morning, and go with their wives to a conventicle in the afternoon. Swift. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who supports or frequents conventicles. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Belonging or going to, or resembling, a conventicle. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Conventicling schools . . . set up and taught secretly by fanatics. South. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. conventio: cf. F. convention. See Convene, v. i. ] 1. The act of coming together; the state of being together; union; coalition. [ 1913 Webster ]

The conventions or associations of several particles of matter into bodies of any certain denomination. Boyle. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. General agreement or concurrence; arbitrary custom; usage; conventionality. [ 1913 Webster ]

There are thousands now
Such women, but convention beats them down. Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A meeting or an assembly of persons, esp. of delegates or representatives, to accomplish some specific object, -- civil, social, political, or ecclesiastical. [ 1913 Webster ]

He set himself to the making of good laws in a grand convention of his nobles. Sir R. Baker. [ 1913 Webster ]

A convention of delegates from all the States, to meet in Philadelphia, for the sole and express purpose of reserving the federal system, and correcting its defects. W. Irving. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Eng. Hist) An extraordinary assembly of the parkiament or estates of the realm, held without the king's writ, -- as the assembly which restored Charles II. to the throne, and that which declared the throne to be abdicated by James II. [ 1913 Webster ]

Our gratitude is due . . . to the Long Parliament, to the Convention, and to William of Orange. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. An agreement or contract less formal than, or preliminary to, a treaty; an informal compact, as between commanders of armies in respect to suspension of hostilities, or between states; also, a formal agreement between governments or sovereign powers; as, a postal convention between two governments. [ 1913 Webster ]

This convention, I think from my soul, is nothing but a stipulation for national ignominy; a truce without a suspension of hostilities. Ld. Chatham. [ 1913 Webster ]

The convention with the State of Georgia has been ratified by their Legislature. T. Jefferson. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. conventionalis: cf. F. conventionnel. ] 1. Formed by agreement or compact; stipulated. [ 1913 Webster ]

Conventional services reserved by tenures upon grants, made out of the crown or knights' service. Sir M. Hale. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Growing out of, or depending on, custom or tacit agreement; sanctioned by general concurrence or usage; formal. “Conventional decorum.” Whewell. [ 1913 Webster ]

The conventional language appropriated to monarchs. Motley. [ 1913 Webster ]

The ordinary salutations, and other points of social behavior, are conventional. Latham. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Fine Arts) (a) Based upon tradition, whether religious and historical or of artistic rules. (b) Abstracted; removed from close representation of nature by the deliberate selection of what is to be represented and what is to be rejected; as, a conventional flower; a conventional shell. Cf. Conventionalize, v. t. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. to make conventional.
Syn. -- conventionalize. [ WordNet 1.5 ]