From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
convention
n 1: a large formal assembly; "political convention"
2: something regarded as a normative example; "the convention of
not naming the main character"; "violence is the rule not the
exception"; "his formula for impressing visitors" [syn:
convention, normal, pattern, rule, formula]
3: (diplomacy) an international agreement
4: orthodoxy as a consequence of being conventional [syn:
conventionality, convention, conventionalism] [ant:
unconventionality]
5: the act of convening [syn: convention, convening]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Convention \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.
[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]