assembly

noun

as·​sem·​bly ə-ˈsem-blē 

plural assemblies

1

: a company of persons gathered for deliberation and legislation, worship, or entertainment

an assembly of religious leaders

2

capitalized : a legislative body

specifically : the lower house of a legislature

3

: a meeting of a student body and usually faculty for administrative, educational, or recreational purposes

A school assembly was held in the auditorium.

4

a

: assemblage sense 1

an assembly of well-wishers

b

: assemblage sense 2

a place of public assembly

5

: a signal for troops to assemble or fall in

6

a

: the fitting together of manufactured parts into a complete machine, structure, or unit of a machine

the assembly of an automobile

b

: a collection of parts so assembled

7

: the translation of assembly language to machine language by an assembler

Synonyms

• assemblage
• conference
• congregation
• convocation
• gathering
• ingathering
• meeting
• muster

Examples of assembly in a Sentence

The parts are made in this factory and then shipped to another country for assembly.

the New York State Assembly

an assembly of armed men

School assemblies were usually held in the cafeteria.

Recent Examples on the Web

Iran also has an elaborate set of overlapping institutions, including a consultative assembly, an assembly of experts, a guardian council, an expediency council, a judiciary, and so on. —Richard Haass, Foreign Affairs, 6 Jan. 2025

Unfortunately, the door handle assemblies weren't sufficiently waterproofed, allowing the electronics inside to corrode. —Ars Technica, 3 Jan. 2025

These capital expenditures can serve to expand and improve upon quality management systems, automate assembly, and even manage energy usage across a firm’s manufacturing plants. —Steven Dudash, Forbes, 31 Dec. 2024

Chinese bicycle factories moved their final manufacturing and assembly operations out of China, setting up new facilities in Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia, Cambodia and India. —Ana Swanson, New York Times, 31 Dec. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English asemble, assemble "gathering, meeting, group gathered for a purpose, as a deliberative body," borrowed from Anglo-French asemblee, assemblee, noun derivative from feminine past participle of asembler, assembler "to come together, assemble"

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing assembly

• assembly language
• assembly line
• general assembly
• house of assembly
• legislative assembly
• pre-assembly
• self-assembly

Kids Definition

assembly

noun

as·​sem·​bly ə-ˈsem-blē 

plural assemblies

1

: a body of persons gathered together (as to make laws or for discussion, worship, or entertainment)

2

capitalized : a governing body

especially : the lower house of a legislature

3

: the act of gathering together or state of being assembled

4

: a signal for troops to assemble

5

: a collection of parts that go to make up a complete machine, structure, or unit of a machine

6

: the translation of assembly language to machine language by an assembler

7

: a meeting of a student body and usually teachers for educational or recreational purposes

Legal Definition

assembly

noun

as·​sem·​bly

plural assemblies

1

a

: a company of persons collected together in one place usually for some common purpose

b

capitalized : a legislative body especially that makes up the lower house of a legislature see also general assembly, legislative assembly

2

: the act of coming together : the condition of being assembled see also unlawful assembly