National Conventionn.

Brit.

/ˌnaʃn̩(ə)l kənˈvɛnʃn/,

/ˌnaʃən(ə)l kənˈvɛnʃn/, U.S.

/ˌnæʃən(ə)l kənˈvɛn(t)ʃ(ə)n/,

/ˌnæʃn(ə)l kənˈvɛn(t)ʃ(ə)n/

Forms: also with lower-case initials.

Origin: Formed within English, by compounding. Etymons: national adj., convention n.

Etymology: < national adj. + convention n. In sense 2a after French Convention nationale (1792 in this sense).

1. A meeting of representatives of the regions of a nation; a general assembly of representatives from all the regions in which an organization, administrative body, interest group, etc., is active nationwide.

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1783 Saunders's News-let. (Dublin) 15 Sept. Resolved unanimously, That it be an instruction to the said Committee, that the Delegates from each county do prepare, and carry with them to the National Convention, an account of all the cities, towns, and boroughs in this province.

1791 T. Paine Rights of Man ii. v I pressed him to propose a national convention to be fairly elected for the purpose of taking the state of the nation into consideration.

1831 New-Eng. Mag. Dec. 544/2 Iron Manufactures. Mr. Dunlop..in the N.Y. National Convention..stated..that one establishment in Connecticut makes 100,000 axes a year.

1891 Pall Mall Gaz. 19 Nov. 6/3 At a meeting of the National Convention of Garment Workers..it was charged that the Hirsch Fund would be a certain cause of sweating in the garment trade.

1937 Life 13 Sept. 100/2 Delegates to the national convention of the Better Business Bureaus..beheld an impressive exhibit of up-to-date business frauds.

1994 Hispanic Jan. 58/2 Roberto Goiszueta..was the featured speaker at the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (USHCC) 1993 National Convention.

2. spec.

a. The sovereign assembly which governed France from 21 September 1792 to 26 October 1795. Now historical.

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society > authority > rule or government > ruler or governor > deliberative, legislative, or administrative assembly > governing or legislative body of a nation or community > other national governing or legislative bodies > [noun] > specifically in France

States General1575

national assembly1790

National Convention1792

Directoire1795

directory1796

tribunate1802

1792 Gentleman's Mag. Aug. 759 The French Nation is invited to form a National Convention.

1837 T. Carlyle French Revol. III. iii. iv. 186 It was Friday..when this Job's-post from Dumouriez, thickly preceded and escorted by so many other Job's-posts, reached the National Convention.

1902 Encycl. Brit. XXXII. 824/1 The Festival of the Supreme Being, decreed by the National Convention, designed by David and conducted by Robespierre.

1952 Mil. Affairs 16 178 That portion of Jacobin opinion which followed Robespierre had moved beyond the sentiments which the National Convention had held at the outbreak of war.

1994 Amer. Hist. Rev. 99 1699 The corrupt men..were revolutionary politicians, members of the National Convention, agents of its committees or the Paris municipality.

b. U.S. Politics. A meeting of delegates of a political party to nominate candidates for the presidency, state or local offices, or for the national committee (national committee n. 2).

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1834 Indiana Democrat 4 Jan. The Hoosier State like true democrats have taken the lead in appointing delegates to a National Convention.

1888 J. Bryce Amer. Commonw. II. lxix. 548 At the Republican national convention at Chicago in June 1880 an attempt was successfully made to impose the obligation.

1920 Evening Star (Washington, D.C.) 14 June 1/2 On a certain night during the republican national convention, the next nominee would be chosen.

1996 Japan Times 29 Apr. 4/6 More than 70 Democratic activists..met here Saturday to select delegates to the party's national convention.

c. A general assembly of regional representatives of the English Chartists, held irregularly between 1839 and 1858 in a number of different English cities. Now historical.

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1848 W. E. Forster Diary 16 Apr. in T. W. Reid Life W. E. Forster (1888) I. vii. 224 The delegates of the National Convention talked pikes and armed processions and all manner of horrors.

1880 S. Walpole Hist. Eng. III. xiii. 221 [In 1833] a meeting was summoned in Coldbath Fields to pave the way for the formation of a National Convention.

1901 Dict. National Biogr. Suppl. I. 88/2 In March 1839 the Birmingham delegates withdrew from the National Convention, protesting against an appeal to arms.

1967 Econ. Hist. Rev. 20 483 Returns made to the Chartist National Convention in 1839 by many provincial Chartist organizations show [etc.].

1993 W. O. Henderson & W. H. Challoner Condition of Working Class in Eng. 151 In 1842 he was vice-chairman of the Chartist National Convention in London. Six years later he was again a Manchester delegate to the National Convention.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

> as lemmas

(c) In party politics, a meeting of delegates of a political party ( National Convention of the Republican or the Democratic Party) to nominate candidates for the presidency of the U.S., or for state or local offices.

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society > authority > office > appointment to office > choosing or fact of being chosen for office > election of representative body by vote > [noun] > selection of candidates > meeting to nominate candidate

convention1817

1817 Niles' Reg. 5 Apr. 96 At a convention of the republican members of the legislature of New York..at Albany on the 25th ult…held for the purpose of nominating a suitable person to be supported for the office of governor of the state.

1831 Niles' Reg. 1 Oct. 74 The anti-masonic convention, to nominate a president and vice-president of the United States, met in this city [Baltimore] on Monday last.

1891 Boston Jrnl. 25 Nov. 3/1 A National Republican Convention of delegated representatives of the Republican party will be held at the city of Minneapolis on..the 7th June, 1892, at 12 o'clock noon, for the purpose of nominating candidates for President and Vice President.

d. National Convention: (a) the sovereign assembly which governed France from September 21, 1792, to October 26, 1795; (b) the name of an assembly of the English Chartists in 1833.

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