English
convention
Convention comes from Middle French convention, from Latin conventiō ‘meeting; agreement’, from conveniō ‘to come together’, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʷem- ‘to step’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʷem-‘to come’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʷm̥yéti‘to come’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*gʷəniō‘to come’reconstructed
- Proto-Italic, derivedc. 1500–700 BCE*komgʷəniō‘to come together’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEveniō‘come’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEconveniō‘to come together, assemble’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEconventiō‘meeting’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600convention
- Englishearliest quotation 1988same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʷem-‘to come’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʷm̥yéti‘to come’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*gʷəniō‘to come’reconstructed
- Proto-Italic, derivedc. 1500–700 BCE*komgʷəniō‘to come together’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEveniō‘come’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEconveniō‘to come together, assemble’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEconventiō‘meeting’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600convention
- Englishearliest quotation 1988same form
Earliest quotation: 1988, Andrew Radford, Transformational grammar: a first course: “In order to account for this, we might propose…”
Formed from convene + -tion
Proto-Indo-European *gʷem- ‘to come, to step’
…
Proto-Italic *gʷəniō
Latin veniō ‘come’
Latin convenio ‘come together’
Middle French convenir
English convene
The story
Recorded since about 1440, borrowed from Middle French convention, from Latin conventiō (‘meeting, assembling; agreement, convention’), from conveniō (‘come, gather or meet together, assemble’), from con- (‘with, together’) + veniō (‘come’).
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *gʷem- ‘to come, to step’
come, coming, base, basic, basis, revenue, bass, cum, venue, pug, quim, contravention, 56 more
through Proto-Indo-European *gʷm̥yéti ‘to come’
through Proto-Italic *gʷəniō ‘to come’
through Latin veniō ‘come’
event, avenue, adventure, inventory, intervene, advent, souvenir, inventor, provenance, invent, revenant, contravene, circumvention, 23 more
through Latin conveniō ‘come, gather or meet together, assemble’
Today it means
noun A meeting or gathering.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *gʷem- / convention