self-assemblyn.
/ˌsɛlfəˈsɛmbli/, U.S. /ˌsɛlfəˈsɛmbli/ 1.
a. The action or process by which something assembles itself; esp. the fact or action of a group or body being convened by its own members.
ΚΠ
1886 Polit. Sci. Q. 1 268 The body [sc. the Storthing] has the power of self-assembly..; the king having the power to call only an extraordinary session.
1923 N.Y. Times 3 Oct. 2/5 A sweeping victory for initiative petition 79, the legislative self-assembly question.
1939 Investig. Telephone Industry (U.S. Federal Communications Commission) (76th Congress, 1st Sess. House Doc. 840) i. xvii. 482 The picture was produced by trick photography, showing the automatic self-assembly of the hand set.
1955 Charleston (W. Va.) Daily Mail 14 Apr. 1/8 Such self-assembly of the legislature has not occurred before in West Virginia's history.
2015 Industr. Robot 42 292/2 The modules [of the modular robot]..are independently mobile and capable of self-assembly from a collection of disconnected units.
b. Chiefly Biology. The spontaneous assembly of a sub-cellular particle from its components, regarded as a characteristic property of living systems. In recent use also: the spontaneous assembly of a nanoparticle from its components.
ΚΠ
1946 Bacteriol. Rev. 10 73 Our inanimate tools and materials must be designed and operated, they lack the properties of self-assembly and self-duplication.
1969 Jrnl. Molecular Biol. 40 412 We feel that the general principle of self-assembly revealed in the present in vitro system also operates in vivo.
1977 Jrnl. Protozool. 24 9/1 Self-assembly of a restricted number of different macromolecular subunits to form comparatively simple structures such as a rhizoplast, a pelta, or a trichocyst.
2004 Sci. Amer. (U.K. ed.) Mar. 18/1 Self-assembly has become a critical implement in the toolbox of nanotechnologists.
2. Assembly of a product (such as a piece of furniture) from components purchased in the form of a kit. Frequently attributive: designating a product of this type.
ΚΠ
1946 Abilene (Texas) Reporter-News 5 Nov. 5 (advt.) All steel utility cabinet... Packed for self-assembly..priced for thrift!
1959 Financial Times 4 June 12/2 The company is parent of a group engaged in..the manufacture of self-assembly furniture.
1978 Dumfries Courier 20 Oct. 27/1 (advt.) Broom unit for self assembly £10.
1980 Daily Tel. 9 July 2/1 A subsidiary..which makes self-assembly garages and prefabricated home extensions.
2014 Metro (Nexis) 21 May 33 I have never constructed self-assembly furniture without getting an important piece upside down and back to front.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, January 2018; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1886