Part 533

Con*vent" (?), v. i. [L. conventus, p. p. of convenire. See Convene, v. i.] 1. To meet together; to concur. [obs.] Beau. & Fl.

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

When that is known and golden time convents. Shak.

Con*vent" (?), v. t. To call before a judge or judicature; to summon; to convene. [Obs.] Shak.

Con*vent"ic*al (?), a. Of or from, or pertaining to, a convent. "Conventical wages." Sterne.

Conventical prior. See Prior.

Con*ven"ti*cle (?), n. [L. conventiculum, dim. of conventus: cf. F. conventicule. See Convent, n.] 1. A small assembly or gathering; esp., a secret assembly.

They are commanded to abstain from all conventicles of men whatsoever. Ayliffe.

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.

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

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.

Con*ven"ti*cler (?), n. One who supports or frequents conventicles. Dryden.

Con*ven"ti*cling (?), a. Belonging or going to, or resembling, a conventicle. [Obs.]

Conventicling schools . . . set up and taught secretly by fanatics. South.

Con*ven"tion (?), n. [L. conventio: cf. F. convention. See Convene, v. i.] 1. The act of coming together; the state of being together; union; coalition.

The conventions or associations of several particles of matter into bodies of any certain denomination. Boyle.

2. General agreement or concurrence; arbitrary custom; usage; conventionality.

There are thousands now Such women, but convention beats them down. Tennyson.

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

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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

Con*ven"tion*al (?), a. [L. conventionalis: cf. F. conventionnel.] 1. Formed by agreement or compact; stipulated.

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